Yu-Gi-Oh! 6thRoC
by Sanokal
Summary: Yu-Gi-Oh! 6th Requiem of Chaos. A new Yu-Gi-Oh! series following Yumi Kisara, a student at Pyschic Refuge Duel Academy Sanctuary, who is much more than meets the eye, slowly dipped into the last vestiges of the Shadow Games. With no knowledge of her past and living in an unfamiliar world and culture, she must adjust to both a normal life and an abnormal existence. Updated weekly.
1. The Shadow Game!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6thRoC**

**Firstly, I must admit that I didn't originally intend on posting this so early, because of the revelation of Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. However, after a conversation with a friend about posting something on Christmas, I was unable to think up a suitable one-shot, so I settled on the first chapter of this fic.**

**To any and all, welcome to this new fanfiction! I'm Sanokal, for those who don't know, and I'll be telling (finally) the story of my own Yu-Gi-Oh! Series, Yu-Gi-Oh! 6th****Requiem of Chaos. **

**I should point out that this fic is intended to be a successor to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Series of canon wonder and its conception has, in a lot of ways, been similar to 's fic Yu-Gi-Oh! G-START (By the way, go and give that a check, because it's pretty damn good, even though there is a lot of gratuitous Japanese thrown in there). **

**Because it's a successor, it will thus have a lot of similar themes and/or story elements to past Yu-Gi-Oh! Series, which you'll likely know when you see them. A large reason that I've mentioned G-START is because it's using more of an RPG party dynamic for the main characters, an approach that I'm using as well, it just took the stating of it for that fic to kick-start it for me. **

**It also means that I'll be using A LOT of original cards, as one thing I always enjoy about the series is seeing the decks of the main characters, especially when they aren't set to a certain archetype, and rather a theme. That said I'll likely use decks and strategies that wouldn't look too out of place in the real game, largely due to the fact that I wouldn't be able to handle myself using an unplayable deck in this fic. Not to mention a few staples. I WON'T, however, use too much card drawing, unless a character's deck specifically uses cards like that, as otherwise it becomes more of an ass pull situation rather than maintaining control. **

**There's also a large difference, which you'll notice very quickly, but I'll keep that to myself. **

**Another theme I'll try to cover is more reasonable courses of action in a situation, and because this is set in Japan, I'll do my best to render honorifics and etiquette in the manner of the Japanese. And yes, I am as non-Japanese as you can possibly get.**

**So without further ado and rambling on my part, are we sitting comfortably? Good. Let's begin.**

_The Shadow Game!_

_Where am I? _

_I don't know where I am._

_I know what I'm doing. _

_What? Is that…?_

_"__Nurse! We need a nurse now!"_

_Where am I?..._

_"__Oh my…where did you find her?"_

_I don't…_

_"__Poor girl. She must have been freezing."_

_Is that what this is?..._

_"__We've got to stabilize her. Concentrate, now." _

_And I'll see him again…_

* * *

Yumi opened her eyes.

She gasped, and grabbed her blankets, drawing them around her and simply lying there, taking in the warmth.

_So cold…_, she thought. Yumi shivered, remembering the biting cold that was the beginning of her life and knowledge. _That's all I can remember…_, she thought. The cold and the dark.

Flashes danced in front of her sapphire-blue eyes. An alleyway, dripping with water, someone lying on the ground, and a group of people standing around her, talking in hushed, worried tones.

She tightened her blankets, and before she knew it, the extra warmth had returned her to her dreams.

* * *

_BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!_

Yumi's eyes snapped open at the familiar alarm, and she groaned. _Aww…_

The blaring noise shut off, and Yumi clambered out of her blankets, blinking to get the sleep out of her eyes, before getting up from her futon, and stumbling into the bathroom.

After a quick shower, and thorough wash of her waist-length white hair, Yumi went for her drawers, taking out the pressed white uniform that lay inside them. White trousers, shirt, tie, and overcoat, embroidered with elegant gold thread, and padded with a dark collar, cuffs and shoulders.

Yumi sighed. _I'm still not used to this high class thing_, she thought, pulling on a pair of white gloves.

* * *

Dressed, and her hair neatly dried and arranged, Yumi stepped out into the hallway of Duel Academy Sanctuary.

The other girls had been mainly up before her, and only a few of them were still filing out into the hallways. _Well, seeing as their hair didn't take too long to clean_, thought Yumi ruefully. _Not that I'll get it cut for anything._

"Good morning, Miss Kisara," said one of the other girls politely, a brown haired girl with purple eyes.

"Good morning, Miss Kunari," replied Yumi with equal politeness, and a last minute bow. _I think I'm getting the grasp of this politeness business_, she thought.

"So, did you finish that homework from Professor Wormwood?" asked Kunari.

Yumi laughed sheepishly. "Eh…"

Kunari sighed. "You haven't, have you?" she said resignedly. "I don't see why you find history so hard."

Yumi stopped smiling, and looked to the side.

Kunari noticed. "Oh…sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to be insensitive."

"Don't worry about it," replied Yumi. "It's not like it's something that you can control."

Kunari frowned. "Don't tell me that," she said. "It's not something I want to be doing, by accident or not."

The girls were silent for a bit, until another bell rang, and they jumped in surprise.

"Oh shoot!" yelped Kunari. "We've gotta hurry!" She took off down the corridor, with Yumi close on her heels.

They didn't see a shadowy figure standing around the corner behind them.

_Heh-heh-heh_, he laughed internally. _Just wait till recess, and then I'll be all ready!_

* * *

Yumi typed down notes in her Duel Pad as Professor Wormwood talked about the Second World War, and many of the students gasped as he discussed the events of the attack on Pearl Harbour, gesturing to diagrams on the smartboard.

She selected another folder after finishing off a paragraph, touched the icon, and stared at the questions that Wormwood had assigned a week ago. _Arggh!_, she thought. _I don't have the patience for history homework!_

"And here we have a classic example of the lack of attention that caught the Americans off guard when…our…forces attacked the Harbour," commented Professor Wormwood's voice. "Miss Kisara, it's called homework for a reason."

Yumi tried to smile timidly, and she saw Kunari facepalm herself behind Wormwood's back.

"Might I remind you, Miss Kunari, that I can hear everything that goes on inside this class," said Wormwood tiredly. He was a thin man, and rather short to boot, but there was something intimidating about him, even though his only attribute was hearing that was in his own words,

"-keener than anyone's on the planet," declared both Wormwood and Yumi at the same time.

Yumi covered her mouth. _Oops_, she thought.

"Are you being cheeky again, Miss Kisara?" asked Wormwood.

"No!" squeaked Yumi.

"Good," replied Wormwood, turning around. "Now, Miss Kunari, you – MR SHOKAN!" he yelled.

A black and white haired student, who'd been dozing off behind Kunari, snapped to attention and hurriedly saluted. "Yes, sir!" he yelped. "Ready sir! Totally not sleeping in class, SIR!"

Wormwood sighed, "It's the second day in a row, Mr Shokan," he warned Shokan. "You cannot keep disturbing my class like this…"

"But I'm not!" protested Shokan. "All I did was…"

"Fall asleep, AGAIN, and draw attention to yourself inevitably," interrupted Wormwood without missing a beat. "If this continues, it's detention." He pushed his glasses up his nose, and turned back to the smartboard. "Now that we've got that matter out of the way, as I was saying…"

* * *

"Boy, am I glad that Mr Shokan acted up today," whispered Kunari to Yumi. The two girls sat huddled in a corner of the courtyard, while several people were standing around with their Duel Pads attached to their wrists, and eyepieces on their faces.

"He got himself in pretty big trouble," pointed out Yumi, taking a bite out of her riceball.

Kunari shrugged, and swallowed. "It's Mr Shokan's own fault. He's late to class, he slacks off, throws paper aeroplanes around, and to top it off…"

"Hey, ladies!" called Shokan's voice.

"…He's right behind me," finished Kunari.

Sure enough, Shokan stood behind the girls, overcoat slung over his shoulder, running his hands through his spiky black and white hair. "So, how were your weekends?" he asked. "Good?" he added, not even waiting for an answer.

"Better than today," muttered Kunari, but Shokan didn't get the veiled insult and just kept on talking.

"Oh man, Professor Wormwood was angry at me today! He kept me back after class and gave me a lecture about staying awake in class and not being up late on a weekend night. I told him that it wasn't the weekend, his speeches were just boring, so it wasn't my fault, but he either didn't believe me or he was even angrier after that!"

"I wonder why?" commented Kunari sarcastically, but Shokan didn't get the insult.

"Yeah, me too," replied Shokan. "Hey, Yumi, are you settling in all right?"

"Uh…I'm getting used to it here…" Yumi replied, who was quite surprised at his casual use of her first name.

Kunari had noticed too, and promptly yelled. "Mr Shokan!"

"Just call me Akira, I like my first name better without any strings attached. Although I wouldn't say no to Master Akira either…" replied Shokan, holding up a hand in fake modesty.

That statement caught both Yumi and Kunari off guard. "Sure," said Yumi timidly.

Akira had noticed her shyness. "Hey, sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable, Yumi," he said, using her first name again. Kunari looked as if she was about to faint.

"I just try and make friends with everyone in the school, that's all!" declared Akira. "With my irresistible charm, it's a mission that I'm willing to accomplish by the end of the year!" With that, he punched the air with his right fist and held his overcoat with his left, stepping up with one foot onto the balcony where the girls were sitting.

There was a stunned silence for half a minute before Kunari regained her composure. "Look, Mr Shokan…"

"Akira," interrupted Akira, bowing modestly.

"Right…Akira, if you're going to make friends with everyone in the school…why are you wasting so much time with us?"

Akira looked confused. "Because you guys are nice, that's why," he said. "And I'm nice, so I figured it'd be a good match!"

Before Kunari could work up a reply, a gruff voice asked, "Is this person bothering you, ladies?"

Akira turned and paled at the sight of the tall, tanned man in a white and grey uniform standing behind him. "Eh…hey, Mr. Thorne," he said.

"What's going on here, Shokan?" asked Mr. Thorne.

Akira swallowed. "Nothing! Nothing at all!" he said nervously. "I'd better go now, though, I don't wanna be late for my next class…I've already been yelled at once today!"

Before Mr. Thorne could react, Akira had turned and fled.

The big security guard just watched him go, before turning to Yumi and Kunari. "You tell me if that boy's harassing you again," he said firmly. "We've had complaints that he's been bothering students when they've been studying. If it escalates any further than today, he will be punished."

"Uhh, okay…" replied Yumi nervously. Secretly though, she didn't plan to tell Mr. Thorne about it if Akira did bother them again. She didn't tell Kunari that, though.

Mr. Thorne headed off to patrol the borders again, and Yumi shuddered. "He's scary," she admitted.

Kunari nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. He's a psychic as well, apparently."

"Even the security guard is psychic?" asked Yumi in surprise.

"Of course," replied Kunari. "Duel Academy Sanctuary is a school of elite psychic students. Naturally, the only people that would pose a threat to them are other psychic individuals, and thus, only people with psychic powers can combat them."

"How is Mr. Thorne psychic, then?" asked Yumi. _I really hope it isn't mind-reading_, she thought.

"That's why we felt ill at ease," explained Kunari. "He claims that he's got an 'aura' of fear around him all the time."

Yumi gasped at that statement. "An aura of fear?" she asked.

Kunari nodded. "It was a little low-level when he was there, but it was active," she pointed out. "You saw Akira get himself out of there as fast as he could. Plus, it helps that he enforces all the rules on campus. He's up there when it comes to authority."

Yumi though to herself for a few minutes, munching on her riceball, while behind them a student was thrown off his feet by a shockwave. It was a daily occurrence, so she didn't pay it any mind.

"Aura of fear, huh?" she asked Kunari.

Kunari resisted the urge to facepalm and decided to sweatdrop instead. "Yes," she replied.

* * *

The next day, Yumi was far more tired than she had been previously. _Man, this sucks…_, she thought. _I didn't even have the dream this time…_ She yawned loudly as she pulled out a uniform.

When she emerged from her room, Kunari was standing right outside the door.

"Ah!" screamed Yumi in surprise, before regaining her composure. "Miss Kunari!"

"…Just call me Eloe," said Kunari – or rather, Eloe. "There's trouble."

She grabbed Yumi's hand and dragged her down the hallway.

"Miss Kunari – Eloe, what's going on? And you can call me Yumi if you want," she added.

"You'll see," replied Eloe tonelessly.

She opened a door, and they walked out into the courtyard. A large crowd was gathered in the middle, where Yumi and Eloe had ate lunch the previous day, and Yumi could hear yells of pain from behind the people.

Eloe shoved her way through the crowd, pulling Yumi with her. Yumi righted herself, and gasped in horror.

Akira Shokan was lying on the ground, with his hands behind his head in a feeble effort to protect himself. A tall student with very short black hair was kicking him around brutally, and slammed his foot particularly nastily into Akira's stomach, the sheer force of the blow knocking him off the ground.

Akira gasped as he crashed into the stone, dirtying his already torn and messy uniform.

"Stop!" cried Yumi, running over to him. "What are you doing that for?!"

Before the tall student could answer, a voice rang out from among the students.

"He was doing that under my orders," declared Mr. Thorne, shouldering past the students. His fear aura quickly sent many of them scattering, including the student that had been beating Akira.

Yumi was afraid too, but she refused to show it. "Why did you do that?" she asked angrily. "What did Akira do to deserve that?"

"We had reports that he was harassing students," explained Mr. Thorne. "His slacker attitude is unbecoming for this Academy, so he has been punished to show him what will happen if he spends more time annoying people than focusing on his studies." He pulled his cap low over his head. "What makes me curious, however, is why you are defending him after he was annoying you."

Yumi was shocked. "He wasn't annoying me!" she protested. "And even if he was, what you've done is totally unacceptable!"

She didn't expect one of the remaining students to raise his hand, and a force lifted her off the ground and into the air. Fear gripped her as Mr. Thorne got closer, with an angry scowl on his face.

"Are you questioning my methods, Miss Kisara?" he asked dangerously. The fear intensified, and many more students turned and left, with the exception of the long-haired brunette boy that was suspending her in the air with his telekinetic powers.

Mr. Thorne smiled. "I didn't think so," he said snidely. "If you have a complaint, leave it at my desk sometime, would you?"

With that, he gestured to the student who was suspending Yumi, and the boy flicked his wrist carelessly, throwing her on top of Akira before both the boy and Mr. Thorne went in different directions.

"Ow…" moaned Yumi, picking herself up.

"Are you all right?" asked Eloe in a worried tone, helping Yumi to her feet.

"I'm fine," replied Yumi. "I don't know about Akira though."

Akira was beaten pretty badly, and chose that moment to groan in pain.

Eloe looked reluctant, but after a few seconds she sighed. "All right, let's get him to the nurse's office," she said. "Miss Orchid should know what to do with him."

Both she and Yumi heaved Akira to his feet, and put one of Akira's arms around their shoulders.

"…I shouldn't be being carried…" mumbled Akira.

"Zip it, Mr. Shokan," replied Eloe. "You can't walk on your own."

"It's Akira…" he protested weakly.

* * *

Miss Orchid, the school nurse, was quite surprised when Eloe and Yumi came in carrying Akira.

"Oh my goodness, put him down here, girls," said in shock.

Eloe and Yumi carted Akira over to the bed, and laid him down.

"Is he going to be all right?" asked Yumi in concern.

Miss Orchid flicked her dyed red hair out of her eyes. "He'll be fine," she replied. "His cuts and bruises aren't too severe." She raised her eyes to look at the two girls. "I assume he's been attacked and beaten up?"

Yumi and Eloe exchanged worried glances. "Yes," admitted Yumi. "Mr. Thorne got someone to teach him a lesson because he'd apparently been harassing people and being a bad student.

Miss Orchid pursed her lips in annoyance. "This Academy's elitist attitude is going to end up alienating every student that comes here," she said in an irritated tone. "Anyway, Mr. Shokan should be fixed up by tomorrow, so if you want to visit him you can be back by then."

Yumi bowed in thanks, and she and Eloe turned to leave.

"And by the way, Miss Kisara," added Miss Orchid.

Yumi stopped with her hand on the doorknob.

"I think Mr. Thorne's methods need to be complained about, don't you?" she asked.

Yumi nodded. "I'll go there tonight," she said.

* * *

After the day's lessons, Yumi lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. _Man, Professor Wormwood wasn't happy when he found out that Akira wasn't in history today_, she thought glumly. _Poor guy._

There was a knock on the door, and Yumi opened her eyes fully. "Come in," she said.

Eloe opened the door, and slipped in. "How are you?" she asked.

Yumi sighed. "I'm a bit worried about Akira," she admitted. "Aren't you?"

Eloe hesitated. "Look…Yumi…just because I didn't like him, doesn't mean I wanted him beaten up. I mean, I wouldn't have gone and gotten you if I'd known you'd get on Mr. Thorne's bad side," she said. "Weren't you going to go and see him?" she asked.

"Well, I was going to file a complaint, yeah," replied Yumi. "I guess you'll want to stay here?" she said, getting up.

"Yumi, wait-" protested Eloe, but Yumi had already gone outside, shutting the door behind her.

Eloe was shocked. _Did her eyes just glow blue?_, she asked herself.

* * *

Mr. Thorne was sitting at his desk, filing some paperwork. He whistled nonchalantly as he slid the last sheets into the cabinet, and he closed it, and then grabbed a drink out of his wall cupboard.

He grinned as he poured the drink out. _Ah…_, he thought. _Nothing like a cold drink after a day's work._

There was a knock on his door, and he sighed, cursing under his breath. "What is it?" he asked.

Yumi Kisara opened the door, and timidly entered.

Mr. Thorne groaned. "What do you want?" he asked irritably.

"What you did to Akira was unacceptable," said Yumi bravely. "So if you don't apologise, I'm going to take it to the principal."

Mr. Thorne snorted. "You think that Mr. Lotus'll listen to you?" he asked. "I work my back off keeping order here, and to have some snot-nosed brat muck around like that just really rubs me the wrong way."

His fear power spread out, but Yumi didn't look like she was afraid. "If you aren't going to admit that you were wrong, then I'll have to be more persuasive," she said. "Do you want to play a game?"

Before Mr. Thorne could reply, Yumi's eyes glowed bright blue, blanking out her eye sockets, and a wild wind seemed to blow behind her, whipping her waist length hair around.

Mr. Thorne backed away in shock as the room seemed to darken.

Yumi held up an envelope. "I've got my complaint written in this envelope," she explained in a distorted voice. "I also notice that you've been a regular at the game center," she added, picking up a deck of cards from the desk. "So let's give us some room."

Mr. Thorne jumped as his desk and filing cabinets were snatched away by an invisible force, and thrown hard against the wall.

"What the-what did you-" he asked in shock.

Yumi smiled. "Please, Mr. Thorne, this is a school for psychic students," she said. "It's hardly a strange occurrence." She held the cards on her palm, and the deck rose into the air, before shuffling itself. Yumi gestured, and the cards began to deal, one to Mr. Thorne, as per tradition, and then one to her, arranging them in separate piles.

"What is this?" asked Mr. Thorne in confusion.

Yumi just raised her hands, and the cards began to slide out in a line. First one slid out from Mr. Thorne's pile, and then one slid out from her own, until the cards formed a line between them.

"This is how our Shadow Game will play out," explained Yumi.

"Shadow Game?" asked Mr. Thorne.

"Yes, that's just what I said, now pay attention," replied Yumi wearily. "We take turns picking up cards. We move forward the number of cards on the floor equal to the number on the card, and the other player moves backwards the same number of cards. Royals are equal to the following: Jack to eleven, Queen to twelve, and King to thirteen. And a joker…well, a joker is the end."

With that done, she smiled. "You've got to move thirty-seven cards forwards, Mr. Thorne," she explained. "Let's play the Game. First one to the envelope decides what to do with it." Yumi folded her arms. "I'll even get you go first, shall I?" she remarked.

Mr. Thorne looked at her in surprise, and picked up his card. He smiled. "It's the ten of clubs," he smiled, walking forwards ten cards.

Yumi knelt down, and picked up her card. She turned it towards Mr. Thorne.

He gasped. "King of Hearts?" he asked in surprise. Grudgingly, he walked backwards to the end of the line, and Yumi walked forwards thirteen cards.

Mr. Thorne picked up the next card and scowled. "Two of spades," he said, moving up two cards, while Yumi moved down two.

Yumi picked up the eleventh card from where she'd started, including the one she'd already drawn. "Queen of spades," she intoned, walking forwards twelve steps.

Mr. Thorne whitened, and he walked backwards again. _The only progress I've been making is due to picking up my own cards!_, he thought, sweating. He picked up his card. _That's a little better_, he thought. "Three of hearts," he said, stepping forward.

Yumi shrugged, and stepped backwards, picking up her card. "Nine of diamonds," she said confidently, and she walked forwards nine more cards.

"This can't be happening!" gasped Mr. Thorne, backing down the line. "This is impossible!" He desperately picked up his card, and showed it to Yumi. _Ugh. Six of diamonds. _He walked forwards, and Yumi walked backwards, but she was getting closer and closer to the envelope.

_I know what I said, but if Headmaster Lotus sees a proper complaint, I'll lose my job!_, thought Mr. Thorne frantically. He licked his lips nervously as Yumi picked up her next card.

"Jack of diamonds," she said, smiling at him.

She was only three cards away from the envelope now.

_No!_, snarled Mr. Thorne inwardly. His fear aura had failed him, and he snatched up his card – a joker.

Yumi smirked. "End of the line, Mr. Thorne," she said, picking up the ace of hearts. "Oh, what a pity," she said. "I'm still not there."

"NO!" yelled Mr. Thorne, diving forwards at Yumi.

It was a last-ditch effort, and she sidestepped easily. "That's against the rules!" she said in a terrible voice.

Mr. Thorne wasn't finished, and he snatched up the envelope. "Gotcha!" he yelled.

Yumi's eyes glowed an intense blue. _"One who breaks the rules must be punished!"_ she screamed, the winds scattering the playing cards. The cards swirled around her in a tornado, and then sped towards Mr. Thorne, wrapping around him and lifting him off the ground.

Even trapped by the cards, Mr. Thorne was still defiant. "You planned this from the start!" roared Mr. Thorne angrily.

"You have broken the rules of a Shadow Game," replied Yumi. "You automatically _lose_. As the loser, you have to play the Penalty Game!" she cried. "Experience it!"

Behind Yumi, a white dragon shrouded in darkness rose up against the winds with a roar.

Mr. Thorne abandoned all pride and composure and screamed. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

His screaming meant that he didn't hear Yumi's next words, and the dragon blasted him with a stream of lightning.

* * *

"Hey, Yumi!" called Akira, running up to her after history the next day.

Yumi smiled warmly. "Hey Akira," she replied.

Next to her, Eloe looked away in embarrassment.

"Thanks for talking to Headmaster Lotus about Mr. Thorne," said Akira. "It's a pity they didn't fire him, though."

"You know, that is odd," admitted Eloe. "They found his office destroyed, and he was passed out, and he looked scared out of his life, they said."

Yumi frowned. "Really?" she asked. "That's odd…"

"So how are you holding up, Akira?" asked Eloe.

"Oh, I'm all right – hey!" he said. "You called me Akira!"

Eloe went red. "Yes, I suppose I did," she admitted with a slight smile.

"Woohoo!" cheered Akira. "Awesome! That's two friends!"

"We're not…oh, fine, of course we are," replied Eloe. "So, how about we find somewhere quiet where we can't be seen!"

"Yeah, good idea – hey! Is there a reason why we shouldn't be seen?" asked Akira.

Yumi smiled as Akira and Eloe bickered. _I feel…more whole…_, she thought to herself, looking up into the clouds, hearing the roar of a dragon.

**It's the end of the first chapter! I've polished this to hopeful and absolute perfection, and I've started to write several other chapters that I'm still polishing so that I can update this weekly. Then I can make it seem more like a series release. **

**If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anything, because I'm willing to answer, and happy to talk. **

**Next chapter: Accidents occur all around Duel Academy Sanctuary, and the culprit is within the school…within the staff…within the restaurant? **

**Please rate and review, everybody! And Merry Christmas for whenever it was Christmas for you all! Plus a happy New Year for that time!**


	2. The Evil Gamer!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6thRoC**

**I had a lot of fun with this one, because its base had an abridged version, so I took a lot of cues from that. It's also been a chance to spend some more time with my ragtag bunch of misfits that have become my main characters, and see what they can teach me.**

**At the same time, it was a little antsy for me to do, mainly because I was running low on time to finish this before my self-set deadline, but that's another story. **

**They're coming together quite nicely now, and I'll also get the chance to advance the plot a fair bit with this chapter. **

**So please enjoy! And Happy New Year, even though it's been 2014 for a wee bit now!**

_The Evil Gamer!_

Duel Academy Sanctuary was enjoying a bright, peaceful morning; there was no strife, the school security guard, Mr. Thorne, was well on his way to a quick recovery, and in short, life was good.

"You know, the lessons went by really quickly when I wasn't bored!" said black and white haired Akira Shokan as he walked out of his and his friends' language class.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you've found _something_ in class that you can enjoy," replied Eloe Kunari sarcastically. "Now we have to find something in every class for you to not embarrass yourself, _and by proximity, us_," she whispered to Yumi Kisara.

Yumi smiled, and then she felt something wet on her head. She reached up, taking her glove off, and touching the wet area. _Huh? Water?_, she thought to herself in confusion.

And then the sprinkler system above her turned on, and chaos reigned in the hallways.

"Ahhhhhh!" the girls all screamed, quickly covering their chests.

Akira took it all in his stride, and didn't even try to enjoy the girls suffering. "Aw, come on!" he protested. "It took me ages to spike my hair up this morning!"

"Oh, well no wonder your grades aren't as high as they should be!" snapped Eloe, who had shrunk down to cover her soaked clothes up.

Yumi shot him a withering look as well. _He thinks that it's not easy to dry hair like this!_, she thought angrily, shaking her waist-length white hair out of her eyes.

"All right, move out of the way, you lot," said a cranky old voice. "C'mon, c'mon!"

An over-fifties man with long hair and dressed in green walked through the halls, already mopping up the floor. "Mopping, and more mopping, when I find whoever did this they'll be up before the Headmaster, mark my words," muttered the janitor in a guttural growl.

Eloe nudged Yumi. "Quick! Let's get out of here before he talks to us and see if we can have a bath before next period!" she whispered.

* * *

Half an hour later, Yumi emerged from her bathroom, towelling her hair. "Oh…that's much better…" she said in relief.

"It's about time!" replied Eloe, getting up from the bed and diving into the bathroom. "I need to get in there; my hair's been all scraggly."

Akira was sitting on Yumi's bed, having simply dried himself off and grabbed a fresh change of clothes from his room in the boy's dorm. "Is that all you girls think about?" he joked as he flipped through a magazine.

Yumi frowned, and snatched the magazine from Akira's hands. "Out!" snapped Yumi firmly. "I'm getting changed!"

"Yes ma'am!" yelped Akira as he was ejected from the room.

Yumi sighed. _First the sprinkler system goes haywire…and then Eloe's shower and tub don't work…what next?_, she thought as she grabbed another uniform out of her chest of drawers.

"Ahhhhhh!" yelped Eloe. "Yumi! Did you leave the hot water on in here?!" she cried.

"No!" Yumi called back as she pulled on her overcoat. "Why?"

"Why do you think?! It's boiling in here!" snapped Eloe walking out from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. Her skin had a slightly red sheen to it, and Yumi went red herself.

"I-I'm sure that I didn't leave the hot water on in here!" she said. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," said Eloe. "Hey, where'd Akira go?" she asked.

"He was being rude, and I needed to change, so I kicked him out," replied Yumi.

Eloe frowned. "That was a bit mean…still, though, he shouldn't have been in here in the first place…and he wasn't at all surprised when the sprinklers went off earlier..."

Yumi laughed. "Oh, don't be silly. Akira can't be doing this!" she reassured her friend. "He's not that wanting for a laugh." She stopped laughing. "Right?"

Eloe shrugged. "We're talking about a guy who was trying to befriend an entire school of snobs…and let's be honest, that included me, and then they beat him up," pointed out Eloe. "The only time you've suffered was when the sprinklers went off earlier, and that was school-wide."

Yumi sighed. "It's not, Akira, okay Eloe," she said. "This just isn't his style."

"We barely know him, though," said Eloe. "How do you know that?"

Yumi was silent for a little while. "I just do, okay?" she said. "Just, please believe me, Eloe. Like you did when I first came here…"

She trailed off, looking sad.

Eloe blanched. "Ah! I'm sorry!" she cried. "I didn't mean to remind you of that!"

"No, it's all right," replied Yumi. "It's not important right now, anyway." She tapped her lips curiously. "He has been acting strange lately, though. I swear that boy goes into the lunchroom all the time!"

Eloe chuckled. "Do you think he's dating someone?" she asked slyly.

Yumi laughed as well, before shaking her head. "He's probably just getting some extra food," she replied, before stopping. "Sorry, that was mean."

Eloe smiled. "You're so considerate. Not like me," she observed.

* * *

After showering and changing with no incident, Eloe and Yumi joined Akira outside for their lunch break.

Akira quickly wolfed his food down, while Eloe looked a little disgusted, and Yumi was simply fascinated at how quickly the boy could eat his food.

"How on earth are you still thin when you eat _that_ much?" asked Eloe in disbelief.

Akira swallowed a last mouthful nosily, and covered his mouth to suppress a belch. "I get a lot of exercise in the weekends," he admitted.

"Plus when you're late to class," piped up Yumi, though she had intended to have been talking to herself rather than broadcasting that statement.

"Yeah, I – Hey!" he protested, as Eloe broke out in a fit of giggles.

Yumi blushed red. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "That was uncalled for."

"Well, yeah," said Akira, who was a little hurt by Yumi's statement. "I mean, do you know what that's like, being teased like that all the time?" he asked, and he was much more serious than usual.

Yumi thought to herself, and she remembered a flash of people standing over her, holding stones and sticks and screaming obscenities at her. Noticing that Akira was looking at her, expecting some kind of answer, she quickly dredged up a reply.

"Maybe," Yumi said. "I don't remember."

Eloe paled, and she quickly and gently nudged Akira.

Akira realized he'd put his foot over a line, and blanched. "Sorry, Ms Yumi," he said.

Yumi smiled. "It's alright, Akira," she said reassuringly.

Her expression immediately changed when the bell for next period rang, forcing the trio to dash in a rush to their next class. _History._

About halfway through the lesson, Yumi was groaning as she slumped in her seat, listening to more of Professor Wormwood's talk about the events of the Second World War, and more specifically (the only other thing she'd been able to glimpse from the haze of her thoughts) the role the Japanese had played in the war. _I hate this_, she thought glumly. _It reminds me too much of what I can't remember…_

Akira excused himself to go to the bathroom when it got boring, and he took his time, but then he realized that Wormwood would twig as to where Akira had been when he was about halfway back to class. "Oh, man!" he yelped. "I gotta dash!"

Akira raised his foot, dashed forwards and planted it firmly on the ground, and proceeded to slip and fall flat on his face.

"You've got to be _joking_!" protested Akira, clutching his nose. "Ouch!"

He got to his feet, took a step, and soon he was on the ground again. "Oh come on!"

* * *

"I swear, I wasn't just trying to get out of class," protested Akira as he walked to the courtyard with Yumi and Eloe.

"What, so you slipped on the floor in the hall?" asked Eloe in amusement.

"Yes! Several times!" replied Akira. "And it still hurts…"

"Why would Akira have slipped over in the hallway?" asked Yumi in amusement.

"I got a pretty good look at that floor several times, y'know," said Akira. "I'd say that someone spread baby oil all over the place. I'd better tell Mr Lotus about it."

"Really, now?" asked Eloe as she raised her eyebrows.

Akira, oblivious as always to her sarcasm, promptly replied, "Yes! It's a legitimate problem!"

He pointed down the hallway. "Look, the office is that way!"

Akira took off down the hall, running at high speed. Yumi and Eloe followed him, caught off-guard by his spontaneous movement. They caught up with Akira quite quickly, but Akira's foot came in contact with a slippery patch of floor, landing him on his rear and reintroducing him to the floor.

Yumi lost her footing on the same floorspace, and joined him in a tangle of limbs that tripped Eloe up, and then she was suddenly ahead of them, gingerly getting to her feet.

"Akira!" she yelled, rubbing her elbows in pain.

Akira looked deeply ashamed. "Oops," he said as he detangled himself from Yumi. "I forgot that this was the way I took back to class."

"Well, this proves something, at least," muttered Eloe as she brushed non-existent dust from her uniform.

"What's that?" asked Akira and Yumi in unison.

"Akira isn't the one who's making trouble in the Academy," replied Eloe.

* * *

They reached Mr. Lotus's office without any more incidents, save Akira's constant talking in the elevator.

Yumi could hear voices as they waited outside for Lotus to finish with whoever was in there. It sounded like a pretty heated discussion, so she was therefore quite surprised when the janitor stomped out of the office with an unhappy scowl on his face.

"Expects me to clean up these messes faster than they can be made, he's asking for the impossible here, he is…" muttered the janitor.

_Maybe it's not a good idea to bother Mr. Lotus_, thought Yumi.

Akira didn't share her sentiments though, and he knocked on the door.

"Come on in," said a tired voice.

Mr. Lotus was an above average in height man with slicked back black hair that looked far shorter than it was, and he also wore the Duel Academy Sanctuary uniform, though his hands were gloveless as he shuffled through a few papers on his desk.

"Let me guess," said Mr. Lotus before the trio could respond. "There's been another incident?"

Akira looked a little nervous. "Yes, sir," he said. "Someone smeared baby oil on the floor between the nearest boy's bathroom and the history class."

Mr. Lotus sighed. "And right after I was a little harsh to Mr. Tatsu," he said, passing his hand over his face. "All right, thank you for telling me about this problem."

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Yumi.

Mr. Lotus looked at her. "Miss…Kisara, isn't it?" he asked.

Yumi nodded. "Yes,": she replied. "How…many incidents have happened today, sir?"

Extracting a paper from those on his desk, Mr Lotus handed it to Yumi.

Eloe looked over Yumi's shoulder, and gasped in shock. "Sprinklers going bad, electrical faults, localised power cuts, and water problems?" she asked.

Yumi looked back up at Mr. Lotus. "All of this in just one day, sir?" she asked.

"Yes, that's correct," replied Lotus. He passed his hand over his face. "It's driving both me and Mr. Tatsu mad, and I'm not quite sure what to do right now." He shook his head. "I'm sure that either this will pass, or I'll figure something out," he said.

There was a knock on the door, and Lotus nodded. "Come in," he said.

Mr. Lotus's secretary walked in. "I have the footage from the security cameras, sir," she said, handing a memory stick to Lotus. "It took a while, but I found Mr. Thorne's passwords eventually."

"It's all gotten a lot more difficult since he got knocked out. Thank you, Mrs. Shen," replied Lotus. "Miss Kisara, Miss Kunari, Mr Shokan," he said, nodding.

As Yumi, Eloe and Akira turned to leave, Mr. Lotus frowned. After the door had closed, he turned to the window of his office.

_What did I just sense from Miss Kisara?_, he thought, slotting the memory stick that he'd been given into his computer. _The…flavour of her thoughts was most unusual._

* * *

"Well, that was a waste of time," complained Eloe as they stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway – taking care to avoid the baby oil-smeared section of floor.

Akira shrugged. "Guess it was always gonna be a long shot," he admitted, scratching his head. "Anyway, I gotta go now," he said. "I've got things to do."

"Wait, what do you mean by things?" asked Yumi, but Akira had already dashed down the hallway with a wave. "See ya!" he called.

Yumi and Eloe just stood in the hall, dumbfounded.

"I really should be used to him being so spontaneous…but I'm not…" admitted Eloe.

"Same here…" agreed Yumi. "I guess we'll see him in the lunchroom for dinner."

* * *

The girls' last class, Mathematics, went far more smoothly than their other ones. Akira was in a different stream to them, so they were used to not seeing him. _I'm not used to him bolting off like that, though_, thought Yumi.

Dinner was fairly different, due to the head cook, Mr. Hedge, having a liking for making whatever he felt like. Fortunately, unlike most examples, Hedge didn't end up making a complete mess of the cooking, _though if he had, he'd probably have been fired_, thought Yumi to herself in amusement.

She had a large quantity of vegetables heaped onto her plate, and then she moved over to the night's meat dish, battered fish that was being served to the students by an apron-clad Akira.

_Hold on, Akira?!_, thought Yumi. "What are you doing here?" asked Yumi in surprise.

"I'm working," said Akira.

"How did you get a spot working in the lunchroom of our own Academy?!" asked Yumi.

"Where else am I going to work?" Akira pointed out, throwing his hands up.

"Somewhere with more dignity?" asked Eloe. "Yumi, you're holding up the line," she whispered.

"I have plenty of dignity!" protested Akira.

"Hedge!" called a rasping voice. Mr. Tatsu was making his way to the counter, and Mr. Hedge, a man with green-dyed blonde hair, poked his head out from the kitchen.

"Tatsu, my friend, what can I do for you?" asked Hedge.

"Someone made a mess in the bathroom, and I've got my hands full," explained Tatsu angrily. "If you could spare one of your lot to clean it up, that'd be appreciated."

"Really dignified, Akira," laughed Eloe.

"It's public service," replied Akira in mock outrage.

Yumi smiled. "At least you're getting experience though. Nice one, Akira."

Akira was a bit surprised, but then he grinned. "Hey, thanks!" he said, as Yumi and Eloe headed for their table. He stepped out from behind the counter. "Mr. Hedge, I'll get this job!" he called, before turning to Mr. Tatsu. "So, Mr. Tatsu, mind showing me where that mess is? I'll go clean it up for you."

* * *

Mr. Lotus watched the footage again.

_It can't be…_,he thought to himself in shock. _I certainly never suspected _him.

He pressed the button that would allow him to use the Public Announcement system, shaking his head. "First Mr. Thorne, and now this…" he muttered.

* * *

Before Mr. Tatsu could answer, Mr. Lotus's voice rang out over the PA system. _"Mr. Jiro Tatsu, you will report to my office immediately, for questioning about the incidents that have occurred around the school!"_

With astonishing speed, Mr. Tatsu plunged his hand into his shirt and withdrew a pistol. Before Yumi could react, he'd grabbed her around the neck with surprising strength, putting her in a headlock with the pistol pointed at her head.

"Everybody down on the ground or I'll shoot her!" he yelled.

Yumi struggled, but not only was Mr. Tatsu far stronger than he looked; he tightened his grip on her and pressed the barrel of the pistol into the side of her head.

None of the students was silly enough to argue with him, and they all immediately dived under the tables with their hands over their heads and various cries of disbelief.

"All right, sit down!" snapped Mr. Tatsu, pushing Yumi to the table. He kept his pistol aimed directly at her, even though his hands were visibly shaking.

Yumi decided to speak up as she lowered herself to the ground. "Mr. Tatsu," she said apprehensively. "Are you all right?"

Mr. Tatsu looked at Yumi in shock. "I'm fine! Why are you even asking!" he snapped. He looked around the restaurant, and his eyes fell on Akira. "You! Shokan!" he yelled.

Akira raised his hands, and hesitantly got to his feet. "Y-yes?" he said nervously.

"Get me a drink and some cigarettes!" ordered Tatsu with a scowl.

"Why would any of those be here?" protested Akira in confusion. "This is an Academy!"

Tatsu smiled. "Being the janitor, I've accidentally run into someone's little stash!" he said, chuckling. "Isn't that right, Hedge?"

Hedge's face turned redder that the tomato sauce splattered on his apron, making him look like a tomato himself with his green hair. "You wouldn't dare tell Mr. Lotus…" he began.

A harsh laugh echoed through the lunchroom as Tatsu threw his head back. "I have the entire lunchroom held hostage!" he said. "I can do whatever I want, demand whatever I want! Now go on. Get moving!"

"What do you want?" asked Yumi. "You're the one who's been causing all these accidents, aren't you?"

Tatsu turned back to her, pointing the pistol directly at her forehead. "You shut your mouth! As if I'm going to tell you…"

"Umm, excuse me…" said Akira. "Where's this stash you're talking about?"

Tatsu gestured towards the lunch counter with his free hand. "Under the counter, on this side, there's a hatch. Hedge, cough up your key."

"Excuse me…" protested Hedge.

"Do it!" snarled Tatsu, moving the gun closer to Yumi. "Or this one gets put down!"

Hedge paled. "All right! We're going!" he said, raising his hands. "Mr. Shokan, if you'll just follow me…"

He produced a key, and walked over to the area that had been indicated.

Akira knelt down, and he was quite impressed to see that the keyhole was coloured and fitted to the same colour and metal as the surrounding wall. Hedge inserted the key, and it turned easily. He withdrew a green bottle, a packet of cigarettes, and a lighter, before giving them to Akira.

"Shokan! Get your lazy butt over here!" snapped Tatsu.

Shaking, Akira walked over to Tatsu with the requested items. "Great, I'm being held hostage and yet I'm _still_ getting forced to work…" he moaned.

"Stop complaining and light my cigarette!" replied Tatsu, who was losing visible patience. "It's been too long since I've had a smoke."

"And speaking of things that'll be harmful to your health, I wonder how far away the police are?" said Akira irritably, lightning Tatsu's cigarette for him. _Seriously, it's all grouch, grouch, grou- _"Ahh!" he yelped.

Tatsu had swung the bottle that Akira had brought him, knocking him down to the floor.

"I'm not getting paid enough for this…" muttered Tatsu. "When is that jerk gonna give me what I need to…" he added, turning back to Yumi just in time to see her eyes glow blue.

"You've broken the rules of a hostage situation," she warned Tatsu.

"Cute," snarled Tatsu, raising his gun. "But let me ask you something-"

Yumi raised her arm, and the gun flew from his grasp. Startled, Tatsu managed to pull the trigger, and the gun went off, and several students screamed as the bullet hit the wall.

Tatsu screamed louder. Purple and green flames were licking the sleeve of his coat, and quickly spread, swallowing all of his clothes.

"Nooooo!" he hollered in agony. "Fire! Get it off me! I'm burning!"

Akira looked up from the ground as Tatsu began to roll on the ground. "You said this wouldn't happen!" screamed Tatsu to thin air. "You said you'd talk to me!"

"What is he doing?" asked Yumi, who'd dived to the ground after the gun had fired.

"What do you mean?" asked Akira. "You yanked the gun out of his hand!"

"It was self defense!" protested Yumi. "I meant the whole crazy thing!"

Tatsu chose that moment to scream, "Fire!" again.

"See?" said Yumi, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess someone made him think that he was on fire," said Eloe, who had crawled across to them. "Though why whoever did it didn't do it earlier is beyond me."

There was a massive crash as the door burst open, and a group of police officers burst into the lunchroom, thundering across the floor towards Mr. Tatsu. Within seconds, the wiry officers had Tatsu on his feet and handcuffed, and then Mr. Lotus walked in.

"Mr. Tatsu, what on earth did you do this for?" asked Mr. Lotus in disbelief. "Really, you must have known just how monumentally stupid you've been, causing all this trouble."

Tatsu didn't respond, having passed out from exhaustion.

Mr. Lotus's face hardened. "Take him away," he requested. "Please."

The officers frogmarched the unconscious Tatsu from the room, while their sergeant stayed behind with Lotus. "It's a good thing that you had us on standby in case something big happened, sir," commented the sergeant.

Mr. Lotus nodded. "Yes. I certainly didn't expect Tatsu to do something this big, though…" he admitted, looking directly at Yumi. "I wonder who got him distracted…?"

* * *

Later, Jiro Tatsu sat in the darkened cell in the prison, still seeing the flames in his mind.

A policeman rapped on the bars. "Jiro Tatsu. You've got a visitor."

Tatsu stood up mechanically, and he allowed the officer to handcuff him, and lead him to a darkened room. Tatsu sat in front of a glass partition, and waited for his visitor.

He wasn't surprised when his employer walked through the door. The tall man sat down opposite Tatsu, and clasped his gloved hands in front of him.

"Well, you certainly got yourself in trouble this time," remarked Tatsu's employer.

Tatsu didn't reply. Instead he just sat there, brooding.

"Holding Duel Academy Sanctuary hostage…" commented the employer, before leaning in. "Not bad," he whispered. "They would have been terrified."

Tatsu nodded curtly.

"Pity that it didn't go further than the lunchroom, though," added the employer.

Looking up, Tatsu spoke with a broken voice, "What do you want?"

The employer frowned in the shadows. "You all right?" he asked. "You sound like you haven't talked for a while."

"F-fine," muttered Tatsu, bowing his head again.

The employer must have known that he was lying, but he didn't press the issue.

"I'll do what I can for you," he said, rising from his seat. "And if you ever do get out of here…I'll make sure that there is a position at the company for you."

Tatsu looked up. "Fire," he whispered hoarsely.

"Hmm?" asked the employer, turning back to Tatsu.

"You're playing with fire, sir," said Tatsu. "And you'll get burned."

**I'm quite proud of the last scene, myself.**

**The employer, eh? This'll be very interesting. As with before, feel free to ply me with questions. I apologize if this chapter felt unwieldy, as I wrote bits of it out of order before giving it the final polish. Fortunately, the next chapter should be much more structured.**

**Next chapter: A prodigal daughter of the Academy's advertised profession returns, though her personality is not nearly as popular as her skills…and Yumi might have bitten off more than she can chew.**

**Please rate and review**


	3. The Strongest Monster!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6th****RoC**

**It's the next chapter! You know, it's getting a little hard to keep to my schedule – and not like the last time. This time, I finished early, but I kept my word, and left it like this. **

**As the chapter title might have given away, this is the first chapter to feature Duel Monsters. I want to keep it sparse – and when it is used, have it make ****_sense_****for the first arc of this series, and I'll change it around depending on what you guys think. As those who already know me probably know, writing duels is my forte more than everyday events, which I tend to resolve too quickly.**

**Remember though, I use a helluva lot of original cards in this fic, and this chapter will be no exception. **

**Peter Kim: This takes place at least 10 years after ZEXAL, though I might change that depending on what happens in ARC-V. So, not for a while.**

_The Strongest Monster!_

Yumi Kisara had no idea what she was looking at. "Uhh, not to be rude, Akira, but…what are you doing?" she asked her friend.

Akira, who was sitting backwards in his seat so that he was facing Eloe, looked up at Yumi. The monochrome-haired student was holding three brown-backed cards in one hand, with several others in front of him, including a thinning deck of them. "What, this?" he asked, indicating his cards.

"What do you think, Akira?" asked Eloe, fanning herself with her own hand of cards.

Akira quickly caught on, and went a furious red. "Right, sorry," he said. "Eloe and I are playing Duel Monsters."

Yumi sat there for a few seconds. "Huh?" she asked.

Akira's jaw hit the ground. "Oh…come on," he said. "You mean you've never heard of Duel Monsters? But we're a Duel Academy!"

"No," replied Yumi, cutting off Eloe's next sarcastic remark. "No I haven't."

Eloe saw the look on her friend's face and swiftly kicked Akira under the table.

"YOUCH!" he cried. "Ah, dang it! Eloe, that hurt!"

"If I could have your attention, Mr. Shokan?" interrupted Professor Wormwood. "Class is about to begin, and as much as I'd love to see Miss Kunari trample you again, it's time to put your cards away."

Everyone laughed as Akira's complexion deepened in colour as he swung around to face the front of the class. Eloe saved him further embarrassment by tiding up his cards for him.

"Now before we begin class, I'd like to welcome back Miss Xi-Len from her recent victory at the regional Duel Monsters tournament," Professor Wormwood continued.

Yumi turned around to see a tall girl in the Duel Academy Sanctuary uniform rise out of her seat, with wild back hair and a stern expression on her face. She gave a haughty nod, and sat back down.

"She won a Duel Monsters tournament?" asked Akira. "Oh man! I want to duel her!" he whispered to Eloe.

Eloe rolled her eyes, but when she spoke, she kept her voice polite and reassuring. "Let me tell you that she'd sooner face Yumi than she would you," she told Akira gently.

* * *

If Eloe expected her words of caution to stop Akira from talking to Xi-Len, she was dead wrong.

"Hey, Miss Xi-Len!" called Akira, running down the hall after her.

Xi-Len turned quickly, and Akira only just stopped himself from cannoning into her. "Oh, sorry, Miss Xi-Len," he said.

"Get to the point," said Xi-Len sharply. "And call me Fang, no-one calls me Xi-Len unless they outrank me," she added.

"Of course, Fang!" said Akira. "I was wondering, would you be able to duel me sometime?" he asked. "I mean, if you've got the time, after all, you're just back from a tournament, so surely you'd want some rest, plus you've got some schoolwork to catch up on, I'm sure-"

"Stop babbling like a helpless fool," said Fang curtly. "You can meet me tomorrow at the fountain for a duel if you so desire to be crushed."

"Sweet!" cheered Akira. "I'll be there! See ya – unless you want to have lunch with us?"

"I could think of better things to do with my time," replied Fang.

"Well of course, I mean, who wants to lower themselves to spend time with a talkative person like me…"

Fang rolled her eyes. "Shut him up," she said to one of her friends, and with a horrid jolt, Yumi recognized the black-haired student that Mr. Thorne had ordered to beat up Akira.

He took to his task with equal joy as he had then, stepping forwards and slamming a fist into Akira's solar plexus. Akira gasped, and crumpled to the floor.

"Akira!" cried Yumi in horror, rushing over to him.

"Ouch," he muttered.

"What did you do that for?" asked Yumi angrily. "He might have been being annoying, but that's hardly licence to hit him like that!"

Fang didn't reply for a while, tapping her lip thoughtfully. "You know, I've got no idea what to do with you," she remarked. "I can hardly have Shelton over here whack you like he did Akira, so I'll have to punish you in a different way."

Yumi set Akira down gently and got to her feet, raising her palm.

"Calm down," said Fang. "How about you take his place for the duel tomorrow?" she asked. "It would provide me with some entertainment, after all."

"She's never played Duel Monsters, Xi-Len," said Eloe.

Fang hadn't noticed that the brunette had been standing there, and started. "Eloe…what are you doing hanging around with this lot?" she asked.

Eloe flushed. "That's my business," she said.

"Apparently so," commented Fang. "Anyway, I'll give you a week to learn how to play the game and build a deck," she said to Yumi. "Meet me at the fountain during recess a week from now."

As Fang walked away, she added, "If you're smart, you won't turn up."

Yumi glared at her. "Oh, I'm not going to back down…" she warned her, and her eyes glowed blue.

* * *

Eloe sat on Yumi's bed. "I know that I won't be able to talk you out of this…" she began.

"But you're going to try anyway?" asked Yumi.

"Fang's a champion!" protested Eloe. "You've had a week of practice!"

Yumi looked a little hurt. "You said that I was doing well…" she said.

Eloe sighed. "I'm sorry," she admitted. "I just don't think you should do this."

"Because Akira stuck his nose in where he shouldn't have, right?" asked Yumi.

"No – well, yes, sort of," replied Eloe. "He's never going to learn that it always seems to get him in trouble."

"It was once or twice," pointed out Yumi. "Hardly always."

Eloe sighed. "Here, let me look over your deck again," she said, extending a hand.

Yumi picked up the pile of cards and handed it to Eloe.

Eloe shrugged. "It'll do for now, I guess," she said, returning it to Yumi. "You should get some sleep before you face Fang, and eat a good breakfast."

* * *

"Hey, Yumi!" called Akira the following morning.

"Good morning, Akira," replied Yumi.

"Ah, right, good morning!" Akira replied in turn, red-faced. "Here, I made you breakfast!"

Yumi was quite surprised. Akira hadn't gone overboard; it was the kind of breakfast that she'd normally have, but arranged by someone with culinary skill. "That job in the kitchens seems to be rubbing off on you," she said to Akira.

Akira shrugged. "It's useful life skills," he admitted. "Besides, you need to food for your big match today!"

"It's hardly a big match," pointed out Yumi before taking a mouthful of food. "But thanks, Akira. I really appreciate it."

"Hey, no problem!" commented Akira cheerfully.

* * *

After the day's classes, Yumi took her Duel Pad and the duel disk components with her to recess, and she saw Fang resting by the fountain, alone.

"Where are her friends?" asked Akira as they approached her.

"They've all got study to catch up on," commented Fang, getting to her feet. "So you showed up, Miss Kisara. I'm a little surprised, to be honest."

Yumi nodded. "Okay, so…we'll duel?" she asked Fang.

Fang smirked. "That's right," she said. "We'll duel, and I'll win, seeing as I'm an expert at this game."

"We'll see about that," said Yumi, strapping the duel disk around her wrist. Then she took out her white Duel Pad, and placed it on the disk. A rectangular plate shot out of it, and then another rectangle slid out from each of the ends perpendicular to where the first rectangle had slid out from.

Fang pulled out her own duel disk, her one tinted black. She threw her Duel Pad into the air, suspending it with her psychic abilities as she strapped her duel disk on, and she caught the Duel Pad on her disk. The rectangles shot out, and she smiled nastily. "Let's duel," she said. "My duel disk is set!"

"This game of Duel Monsters might be different from what you're used to," commented Yumi. Her eyes glowed a bright blue.

Fang slid her Duel Gazer over her left eye. "Not using a Duel Gazer to see the AR, hmm?" she commented thoughtfully.

"I don't need to," said Yumi, as the glow faded, though her eyes retained a luminous appearance.

Green digits began to rise around them, and a mechanical voice declared, "Authentic Reality Vision Link established."

They drew their starting hands of five cards, and purple readouts showing their 4000 life points appeared below portraits of each duelist.

Fang drew a sixth card from her deck. "I'll be generous, and give you the first chance to attack," she said, adding the card to her hand, and placing another card sideways on her duel disk. "I summon Aquadrake Tribesman to the field in defense mode," she said.

Yellow squares formed an image of the card, and then a water twister spewed forth from it, revealing a hunched, humanoid sea-serpent with dark scales, and a yellow, leering grin, carrying a transparent blue blade in each hand. A blue meter flashed up, showing the monster's attack and defense statistics. (1400/300)

Yumi smiled. "See?" she asked. "Your monster has come to life."

Fang burst out laughing. "What part of 'Authentic Reality' didn't you understand?" she asked. "It's just part of a virtual reality. If you can turn off your eyes, it won't be there."

"Well, of course not, I won't be able to see," pointed out Yumi.

Fang scoffed. "I meant your Duel Gazer…thing…" she said awkwardly. "You really are as dumb as they say."

"I am not!" protested Yumi firmly.

"Whatever you say," commented Fang. "Now I'll activate the special ability of my Tribesman," she declared. "When I normal summon this monster, I can banish the top card of my deck from the game." She drew the top card of her deck, and slid it into her pocket. "During my next standby phase, that card will be added to my hand," she explained.

Yumi nodded. "So you get more cards in your hand," she said. "Right?"

Fang grinned wolfishly. "That's the general idea, yes," she replied, taking another card from her hand and sliding it into a slot in the side of her Duel Pad. Yellow squares formed a backed card image. "I place a card face-down on the field, and end my turn," said Fang.

Yumi looked at her deck, and looked at the cards in her hand. _This would be like dueling with Akira…_, she thought. _…Except I'm up against the best player in the Academy_, she added internally, looking at Fang.

Yumi drew her card. "My turn," she said. "I draw!" She placed the card on her disk. "I summon Monk of Eight!" she called.

The yellow squares formed the card, and with a blaze of light, a burly man in a grey trench coat appeared, throwing punches with his gloved hands. (1800/1800)

"Monk of Eight, attack and destroy her Aquadrake Tribesman!" called Yumi.

The Monk charged forward, and threw a right hook that smashed the sea-serpent across the face, breaking it into golden sparkles.

The backlash swept past Fang, and she smiled. "It'll take more than that to impress me," she said.

Yumi was a bit unnerved as Monk of Eight leapt back into position. She took a card from her hand and slotted it into her Duel Pad. "I play a card face-down and end my turn," she said nervously. The backed image formed in front of her with a rush.

"Then it's my turn," said Fang. "I draw," she added, drawing her card. She added the card to her hand, along with the card from her pocket. "During my standby phase, the effect of my Aquadrake Tribesman adds this card to my hand," she reminded Yumi. The card was glowing blue, as was Fang's graveyard slot.

Fang placed another card onto her duel disk. "I summon Vine Ogre in attack mode," she said. A green-brown ogre holding a club in its left hand and with vines protruding from the other hand appeared from a fissure in the ground and bellowed. (1600/700)

"Next I'll play this card," continued Fang, slotting another card into her Duel Pad. "Smashing Ground."

Yumi frowned. _A spell card_, she thought.

"Smashing Ground destroys the monster with the most defense points on the field," explained Fang. "Say good bye to Monk of Eight."

A fist of earth struck the ground in front of Monk of Eight, and the shockwave slammed into him, shattering him into gold dust.

"Now my Vine Ogre can attack you directly," remarked Fang. The ogre brought its club up and swung it at Yumi.

Yumi quickly looked at her Duel Pad, and touched the icon of her face-down card. "I activate the trap card, Defense Draw!" she called. The face-down card flipped up, and blew a gust of wind that stopped the ogre in its tracks.

"This card reduces the damage to zero, and allows me to draw another card from my deck," explained Yumi, drawing another card.

Fang chuckled. "So at least you have some basic skill, Kisara" she commented. "I'll end my turn now."

"My turn and I draw!" called Yumi, drawing her next card. She placed it onto her duel disk. "I summon Knight of Twin Swords!" she called.

A knight clad in purple armour with flared shoulder pads appeared, slicing the air with twin longswords. (1400/1400)

"Let's see…" said Yumi, reading the card's text. "That's right!" she cried. "I activate the effect of Knight of Twin Swords!" she called, and the Knight leapt into the air, and sent a blade of energy at her deck. "Once per turn I can reveal the top card of my deck, and if it's a level four or lower monster, I can special summon it to my field!"

"That's a pretty big risk," commented Fang lightly, lazily waving a strand of her out of her eyes.

"Come on, give me a good card!" called Yumi, drawing the card. "Yes!" She turned the card towards Fang. Even at that range, Fang could see that it was a level four effect monster.

"I special summon Cinque Berserker!" called Yumi, placing the card on her disk.

A woman in a black bodysuit and red armour appeared on the field, clutching a heavy mace. (1700/1200)

"Seventeen-hundred attack points," observed Fang, getting a serious look on her face. "Well, at least your luck is of good value."

"And so is this attack!" called Yumi. "Cinque Berserker, attack her Vine Ogre!"

With a loud battle cry, the girl leapt into the air and swung her giant mace around, using her entire body to smash Vine Ogre into golden dust.

Fang shielded herself from the backlash, which sliced a fine line of pain across her chest. She cried out in pain as her life point meter appeared and decreased to 3900. "Are you pulling out a Psychic Duel?" asked Fang in a rage.

"What?" asked Yumi. "Oh, you've finally realized that this _isn't_ a normal game of Duel Monsters," she realized.

"Ordinary?" asked Fang. "A Psychic Duel isn't normal, but it's not unheard of!"

"Psychic Duel?" asked Yumi. "No, no, this is a Shadow Game that we're playing."

"Shadow Game?" asked Fang. "What on earth is this Shadow Game nonsense?"

"Take off your Duel Gazer and see," said Yumi, smiling.

Now Fang was feeling uneasy. She slowly reached up and took off her Duel Gazer…and she gasped in surprise.

Knight of Twin Swords and Cinque Berserker were both standing between her and Yumi.

_That's not Authentic Reality!_, thought Fang. _And it isn't solid vision or psychic materialization either! Those monsters are actually in the building!_

"See?" said Yumi. "The monsters in this game are real, and the damage we take is an illusion created by our minds." She gave a suddenly wicked grin that even had Fang stepping back. "Or at least, the residual battle damage is an illusion."

Fang snorted as she put her Duel Gazer back on. "Shadow Game or no Shadow Game, don't think you can use methods like that to prevent me from outplaying you!" she said confidently.

"All right, I'll just activate the effect of Cinque Berserker!" declared Yumi. "Since she destroyed a monster in battle, she allows me to special summon a level four warrior monster from my deck…" and she sorted through a card display on her Duel Pad, touched the icon, and took the card as it slid out from her deck. "…and I choose Queen's Knight!" she called.

A red-armoured blonde woman appeared, clutching sword and shield. (1500/1600)

"Hey, all right!" called Akira from the sideline. "Yumi can take a massive chunk out of Fang's life points this turn!"

Eloe was a little more worried, having seen Yumi's psychotic smirk. "But she said the monsters were real," she pointed out. "She could really hurt Fang if she does that!"

"You aren't the only one with a monster effect," stated Fang. "Vine Ogre's effect activates since it was destroyed by battle," she explained.

Vines twisted out of the ground on both sides of the field, one clump wrapping around Fang's deck, and the other around Cinque Berserker.

"When Vine Ogre is destroyed in battle, his effect equips him to Cinque Berserker, and not only can she not attack, but she can't be sent to the card graveyard unless she's destroyed," explained Fang. "Then, I can special summon a level three earth attribute monster from my deck, and negate its effects."

The clump of vines withdrew from her deck, revealing a horizontally placed card.

"I summon Scarab Crawler," said Fang as the vines sank into the ground, revealing a predominantly black insect standing on two clawed legs, with golden-tipped claws on its other four arms, and a golden face. (1000/2000)

"Two thousand defense points?" asked Yumi incredulously. _Aw, nuts_, she thought. _Now I'm stuck here._ She took another card from her hand and slotted it into her duel disk. "I place one card face down and that ends my turn," she said sadly.

"My turn," declared Fang. "Now I draw!" she cried, drawing her card. She looked at the card and frowned.

"Not a good card?" asked Yumi, smiling.

"On the contrary, I'm just annoyed that I can't toy with you much longer," said Fang. "I can't hold back this move and still regard myself as the best duelist in this Academy." She placed the card onto her duel disk. "I summon Pyrogre Archfiend!" she called.

With a violent roar, a horned biped with lava-like red skin burst out of the ground in a twister of fire. It carried a staff with blades like fire, and its left hand was tipped with glowing orange claws. (1900/200)

"Pyrogre Archfiend's effect activates!" declared Fang throwing out her hand. "When I normal summon this monster, I choose one monster I control and destroy that monster!" She plucked a card from her duel disk. "I destroy Scarab Crawler!" she said.

Pyrogre Archfiend turned and slashed at Scarab Crawler, and the monster vanished in a spray of flames with a screech.

"Now, you have to destroy one monster on your field!" added Fang.

"What?" asked Yumi in shock.

"You heard me," said Fang harshly. "Now choose."

Yumi knew that there really wasn't any choice. "I destroy Cinque Berserker, I suppose," she said reluctantly.

Pyrogre Archfiend leapt across the field and brought its claw down, cutting through the vines surrounding Cinque Berserker and surrounding the warrior in flames. The girl cried out and vanished.

"Next I activate the effect of this monster in my hand," said Fang. "Since one of my level four or lower monsters was destroyed, I can special summon this monster from my hand." She placed the card onto her duel disk, and a hulking stone golem appeared from a fissure in the ground. Orange spikes lined its grey body (including one that it clutched in its hand) and its right fist was enormous. (2000/1000)

"Darkstone Bruizer can't be normally summoned," explained Fang. "I have to special summon it, and fortunately, its effect makes that pretty easy." She grinned. "And when he's summoned by this effect, I can destroy one of your level four or lower monsters."

"This isn't going to be good," muttered Yumi to herself. She held her head high, and glared at Fang.

Fang shot her a wolfish grin. "Darkstone Bruizer, destroy Queen's Knight!" she called. The golem raised its large arm and brought it down on the female knight, and she screamed in pain as she dissolved into gold dust.

Fang raised her hand. "Now, Pyrogre Archfiend, attack her Knight of Twin Swords!" she called. The bull-headed creature raised its staff and stabbed the Knight, shattering it to pieces.

Yumi groaned in pain as her life points decreased to 3500.

"Darkstone Bruizer, direct attack!" ordered Fang. The golem charged, swinging its large arm and knocking Yumi backwards. She screamed in shock from the impact as her life points decreased to 1500.

Fang laughed. "How's that feel?" she asked.

Yumi massaged her stomach where the monster's fist had struck her. _It's a good thing that I didn't mention the Penalty Game_, she thought. _I've really bitten off more than I can chew here, taking on the best duelist in the school._

"Come on, Yumi!" cheered Akira from the sideline, clenching his fists.

Yumi looked down for a few minutes, and then she looked up with a fierce look in her eyes. She stood up, and suddenly gusts of wind seemed to blow behind her.

Fang frowned. _I don't know whether to be impressed or annoyed_, she thought, slotting a card into her Duel Pad. "I'll place a card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn! I draw!" called Yumi. Her eyes glowed a bright blue again, not just the irises, but her entire eyes were blanked out by blue. She touched an icon on her Duel Pad. "I activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted!" she called. "This card summons my Knight of Twin Swords in attack mode!"

The purple armoured knight appeared and brandished its blades.

"Knight of Twin Swords' effect activates!" called Yumi. "I reveal the top card of my deck!" The Knight sent its blade of energy at Yumi's deck again, and she drew the card.

Smirking, she held it up to Fang.

Fang gritted her teeth. "Level four…again," she muttered.

"I special summon Trey Archer!" called Yumi.

An archer in orange and yellow fatigues appeared, with a sweeping fedora on his head, and a longbow strapped to his back. He cracked an easy smile, and snapped his fingers. (1500/1300)

"Now I'll release my two monsters," declared Yumi, slipping them into her graveyard. "Then I can advance summon this monster from my hand!" The wind intensified even more as she placed the card onto her disk, and a white glow manifested itself from the dust of her two monsters.

A white dragon appeared, with long powerful limbs, and plane-like wings. Its head had a three pointed, three layered crest, and it had sapphire blue eyes that seemed to gaze deeper than one would have preferred. It roared a keening sound of sorrow as its attack points flashed up. (2500/2000)

"I call forth my Lustrous Glider!" called Yumi.

"Oh, it's beautiful," whispered Eloe.

Akira had nothing to say, for once. "Yeah…" he agreed.

"Go, Lustrous Glider!" declared Yumi. "Attack her Darkstone Bruizer with Burst Stream!"

Lustrous Glider drew back its head, and breathed a stream of lightning at the golem, hitting it dead on and dissolving it into gold dust.

Fang covered her head with the arm holding her cards, squinting and muttering as her life points decreased to 3400.

"Yes!" cheered Akira, punching the air.

Yumi smiled, and spoke in a distorted voice. "I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn." The winds continued to whirl behind her. "Now make your move!"

Fang drew her card. "My turn. Draw," she said. As she looked at the card, a wild smirk broke out across her face.

Eloe suppressed a shudder. "Oh no…" she whispered.

"What's the matter, Eloe?" asked Akira.

"I know Fang's deck," Eloe replied. "And I know what she's drawn if she's smiling like that."

"Which means?" asked Akira. "C'mon, give me something to work with!"

"Yumi's toast, that's what it means!" snapped Eloe.

Akira backed off. "Okay, okay," he said. "Sorry. Wait, what?"

"I play my face-down card," said Fang, touching the icon on her Duel Pad. "Just as you did, I'll use Call of the Haunted to bring a monster back from the graveyard as a sacrifice!"

Call of the Haunted rose up, and Scarab Crawler emerged from the ground with a hiss.

"I release my two monsters!" declared Fang, placing a card on her disk.

Lightning began to strike from the ceiling, and the room darkened as the monsters burst into gold dust. A loud roar echoed through the room, and then there was a flash of lightning, revealing a pair of glowing yellow eyes that looked like lightning bolts themselves. Another bolt of lightning revealed the monster in its entirety; a dragon, with large black scales and blue armour plating, yellow-bladed wings shot through with energy, and a fanged maw seething with power.

Fang stood in front of the monster, laughing. "I summon Bolt-Eyes Steel Dragon!" she called. (3000/2500)

Yumi looked in shock at the monster. It was already an impressive beast, and this was only intensified by the effects of the Shadow Game. _But I can beat it!_, she thought. She touched the icon on her Duel Pad. "I activate the spell card, Hand Destruction!" she called. "This card forces both players to send two cards from their hand to the graveyard, and then draw two cards!"

"What was the point of that?" asked Fang, slotting the cards into her graveyard and drawing with a smile as Yumi did likewise, her eyes glowing bright blue.

"Now my Glider's monster effect activates!" called Yumi. "Because I drew cards with a card effect this turn, she gains five-hundred attack points for each card that I drew! I've drawn two cards, so…"

"That's one-thousand extra attack points," observed Fang.

"Future Strands!" called Yumi. Lustrous Glider keened, and its attack points increased to 3500 as energy from the cards flowed into it.

"But it's not enough," said Fang, smiling nastily.

Behind her, Bolt-Eyes Steel Dragon shimmered with lightning, and let out a bellow as its own attack points increased to 4000.

"What?" protested Yumi. "How did your Bolt-Eyes gain more attack points?"

"Because Bolt-Eyes has a special ability to gain the same number of attack points as another monster when the attack points of the monster increase," explained Fang. "So your spell was not only useless, but it also gave me this card," she commented. "I activate the spell card, Fissure!" she called. "This card destroys the monster you control with the lowest attack points!"

As Fang slotted the card into her Duel Pad, a fissure opened up in the ground beneath Lustrous Glider, and the dragon lost its footing. The narrow confines of the fissure prevented it from climbing out, and the dragon plummeted into its depths.

"My Glider!" cried Yumi, her voice distorting. She fell to her knees in shock.

"Now, it's time to attack!" declared Fang. "Bolt-Eyes Steel Dragon, attack little Miss Kisara directly with Meteor Stream of Destruction!"

The dragon opened its jaws and fired a blast of blue electricity at Yumi, trailing a stream of energy.

Yumi looked up at the stream and fear entered her eyes as she stepped back before it struck, the blast flinging her from the field. Her life point meter dropped to zero.

"Yumi! I'll catch you!" called Akira, running forward. The results were mixed, ending up with Akira sprawled on the ground, and Yumi lying draped over his back.

Even Fang lost her composure at this sight, and she turned around and walked away from the fountain as the AR exploded. "What as waste of my time..." she muttered.

Eloe sighed, and facepalmed. "Oh dear…" she said.

Yumi opened her eyes, and realized where she was. "Ahhh! Akira!" she yelled, bolting off him. "Owwww…" she moaned, clutching her side.

"Well, what did you expect?" asked Eloe, helping her friend up. "You challenged someone to a duel when she's the best in the entire school."

Yumi sighed. "I know, but…I thought I could teach her a lesson…" she said timidly.

Eloe sighed. "I told you to drop it, okay? Besides, Fang probably doesn't think we're worth her time now."

Yumi felt her side again and winced. "I think I need a lie down after that." She smiled softly. "But, aside from the whole pain thing, that was intense. It was pretty fun."

Eloe smiled back. "Well, Akira and I will teach you during lunch break tomorrow, and maybe we can find you a better deck balance."

"And then, once I'm better, I'll challenge Fang again!" suggested Yumi.

Eloe sweatdropped. "That might take a while…"

**Original cards created for this fic. **

**Aquadrake Tribesman  
WATER  
Level 3  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 300  
Sea-Serpent/Tuner  
When this card is Normal Summoned: Banish the top card of your Deck, face-down. During your next Standby Phase after this effect's activation, add that card to your hand. **

**Monk of Eight  
EARTH  
Level 4  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 1800  
Warrior/Effect  
Effects unconfirmed**

**Vine Ogre  
EARTH  
Level 3  
ATK: 1600  
DEF: 700  
Plant/Effect  
When this card is destroyed by battle with an opponent's monster and sent to the Graveyard: You can equip this card to that opponent's monster, then Special Summon 1 Level 3 EARTH monster from your Deck. That monster's effect is negated. While this card is equipped to a monster, the equipped monster cannot attack, be sent to the Graveyard unless it is destroyed, and cannot be used as Xyz Material.**

**Knight of Twin Swords  
EARTH  
Level 4  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1400  
Warrior/Effect  
Once per turn: You can reveal the top card of your Deck, then apply the following effects.  
●Monster: If that monster is Level 4 or lower; Special Summon it, otherwise; banish it.  
●Spell: Effect unrevealed.  
****Trap: Effect unrevealed.**

**Cinque Berserker  
FIRE  
Level 4  
ATK: 1700  
DEF: 1200  
Warrior/Effect  
When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 Warrior-Type monster from your Deck, but it cannot attack this turn and is banished when it leaves the field. **

**Scarab Crawler  
EARTH  
Level 3  
ATK: 1000  
DEF: 2000  
Insect/Effect  
Effect unrevealed.**

**Pyrogre Archfiend  
FIRE  
Level 4  
ATK: 1900  
DEF: 200  
Beast-Warrior/Effect  
When this card is Normal Summoned: Target 1 monster you control, then your opponent targets 1 monster they control; destroy those targets. **

**Darkstone Bruizer  
EARTH  
Level 4  
ATK: 2000  
DEF: 1000  
Rock/Effect  
Cannot be Normal Summoned (but can be Normal Set). When a Level 4 or lower monster you control is destroyed: You can Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard. When you do: Target 1 Level 4 or lower face-up monster; destroy that target. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: Banish it. **

**Trey Archer  
WIND  
Level 4  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1300  
Warrior/Effect  
Effect unconfirmed.**

**Lustrous Glider  
LIGHT  
Level 8  
ATK: 2500  
DEF: 2000  
Dragon/Effect  
Effect unconfirmed. Once per turn, when you draw cards with a card's effect: This card gains ATK equal to the number of cards you drew x 500, until the End Phase.**

**Bolt-Eyes Steel Dragon  
EARTH  
Level 8  
ATK: 3000  
DEF: 2500  
Dragon/Effect  
When your opponent's monster gains ATK: This card gains ATK equal to the ATK that monster gained. This ATK change lasts until the end of this turn. **

**I'll also upload these cards to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Custom Wiki if you want to have a look for them there. And heck, if anyone wants to draw art for them, that's fine too. **

**Next chapter, Yumi duels again with a revamped deck, and against a friend. Will her instincts lead to his ruin?**

**Please review!**


	4. The Teaching Session

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6th RoC**

**Damn, I need to be careful when writing this. This whole Penalty Game business crept into my dreams one night. It was freaking weird. I won't bore anyone with the details though.**

**It's the second duel for this fic! Duel Monsters won't show up again for a bit, but the concept is firmly embedded in my mind. The next two chapters are the more pressing issue.**

**And Pendulum Monsters (well, the Summon) has been revealed! I'm thinking that it sounds like Psychic Creatures from Duel Masters, which were two-sided cards. It certainly explains why Yuya has two monsters behind him in the art, and looks damn interesting!**

**Unfortunately, I can't upload the art for the cards in the previous chapter, because copyrighted images aren't allowed on the Custom Wiki. I'll get onto it at some point though, and the disallowing of art will actually make it easier for me to keep things updated. Ah well.**

_The Teaching Session_

_"Bolt-Eyes Steel Dragon, attack little Miss Kisara directly with Meteor Stream of Destruction!" Fang ordered._

_The dragon opened its jaws and fired a blast of blue electricity at Yumi, trailing a stream of energy._

_Yumi looked up at the stream and fear entered her eyes as she stepped back before it struck, the blast flinging her from the field. Her life point meter dropped to zero._

Yumi opened her eyes.

She yawned, and sat up, walking into the bathroom. She looked at her haggard face in the mirror, and blinked uncomfortably several times. _Urgh_, she thought groggily. _Fang might not have known to enforce a Penalty Game, but that Shadow Game still took it out of me…_ She wiped her brow, and realised that she was sweating.

Yumi looked at her hand in shock, and quickly washed her face in revulsion, splashing water all over her as it seemed to swirl over her memories of the duel between her and Fang.

_"What a waste of my time…" muttered Fang._

Yumi looked up at the mirror, feeling a primal instinct welling up inside her. _Not next time!_, she thought to herself in anger. _I will not lose next time! And then Fang will see just what a Shadow Game really is…_, she thought to herself.

She heard a knock on her door while she was thinking to herself. "Come in!" she called, shifting her hair out of her face.

Eloe walked in wearing casual clothes, dark blue jeans and turtleneck sweater. "Wow," she said. "You've really slept in late today."

Yumi sighed. "I suppose that duel might have taken more out of me than I thought it did," she admitted sheepishly.

Hearing Yumi admit that, Eloe frowned to herself, remembering hearing the words "Shadow Game" in Yumi's voice, from what had seemed to be a very different person than the one that was standing in front of her.

"Is something wrong?" asked Yumi.

Eloe just felt like saying, "No, Yumi. It's nothing." _I don't know if I'd believe myself if I heard it…_, she thought to herself. She sighed. "Yumi, what was going on during the duel yesterday?"

Yumi looked panicked. "Did I make a really bad misplay?" she asked in surprise. "I thought I did okay…y'know, except for losing, and all, but not badly."

Eloe gave Yumi a look. _Does she not remember?_, she thought. _The "Shadow Game" she called it…whatever it was, I've heard of it before…_ She decided to store that thought away for later. "Come on," she said. "We'd better get down to the card shop and see if we can find some more cards to help power up your deck."

Yumi brightened at once, and she bolted up and raced into the bathroom. "I'll meet you down there!" she called, slamming the door shut.

Eloe smiled, and left the room quietly.

Yumi showered, soaked, and dried herself as fast as she could without missing anything, and dived into her wardrobe to grab her weekend clothes. They were mainly white, like her school clothes, boots, sleeveless jacket, and skirt, but she also wore some dark tights and arm warmers for the cold.

Rubbing her hands together, she pocketed her Duel Pad, belted her Duel Disk and deck around her waist, and tore out the door of her dormitory.

* * *

She ran into Akira as he came out of the lunchroom, in fresh clothes after finishing his shift.

"Come on, Akira!" called Yumi, grabbing him as he shrugged on a dark jacket. "We're going to the card shop!"

"Wait, what-?" asked Akira as she whisked him away.

Yumi dragged Akira after her as he struggled to fit his right arm into his sleeve.

"Hey, Yumi, hold up for a second!" cried Akira. "No, seriously, wait up!"

* * *

Eloe was walking down to the card store deep in thought.

_Shadow Games…_, she thought to herself. _Where have I heard that before? And why am I having a bad feeling about this?_

She bumped into someone, and stepped aside. "Sorry, sir," she said, continuing on down the corridor. _I wonder if she'll do it again when I give her a test run today?_, she thought. _I guess it's worth a shot…we can always call off the duel if it gets nasty._

As she turned a corner she thought, _And then there's Yumi when she was dueling. For some reason she was a lot more…vengeful? Is that the right word? It certainly describes that monster…_

Eloe stopped short in shock. _Monster?!_, she thought in shock. _What the?!_

She was so deep in thought that she nearly walked right past the Academy card store.

"Hey, Eloe!" called Akira.

He was standing with Yumi by the store, waving wildly, and Yumi had joined in.

Eloe smiled at her friends' exuberance as she walked over to them. "All right Yumi, let's get you some cards," she said.

As they walked into the store, Yumi looked around with wide eyes. She was too timid to say anything at first, and looked a little mouse-like as she saw several students flipping through a box of common cards.

Eloe marched straight to the counter and began peering through the glass. "Let's see…" she muttered. "What packs would bolster your deck…?"

Akira was rummaging through a common card box. "You had her using warrior monsters against Fang," he commented. "Oh, yes!" he cheered, holding up a card.

"You can sort your own deck out later," commented Eloe. "Warriors…I'd better get you a structure deck, it'll get you some important support cards."

"Oh no, you don't need to pay for me," protested Yumi, but Eloe held up her hand to silence her.

"It's all right, it doesn't cost that much, and I can afford it. You only get a student allowance, and you need that," said Eloe.

She pulled out a few thousand yen and went to the counter. "Akira, start looking for warrior support and staples, if the hyenas have left any in there."

The man behind the counter, a fellow in his early twenties with grey hair and stubble smiled. "Ah, Miss Kunari," he said. "It's good to see you again. I haven't seen you since Miss Xi-Len made our Academy proud!"

"Nice to see you too, Eldest," replied Eloe.

Eldest chuckled good-naturedly. "Did I perchance hear you speak of warrior monsters?" he asked. "Don't tell me you've changed your deck up already, now, you haven't even had the last one for that long!"

"It's for a friend," explained Eloe. She beckoned Yumi over. "This is Miss Kisara," she explained. "I built her a preliminary warrior deck to use against Fang, and I think she liked it."

Yumi nodded timidly. "I did enjoy it," she said. "But my favourite card wasn't a warrior," she said, digging into her deck case and withdrawing her deck. "It's the top card," she said, handing it to Eldest.

Eldest took the cards carefully, and looked at the card. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at it. "This is quite the rare card, Miss Kisara," he said. "It gains attack points by drawing cards, you say?" he asked. "Then I think I know what kinds of cards you need."

He handed Yumi her deck back, and grabbed a pen and paper. "You'll need to swarm the field, and preserve your monsters," he explained as he scribbled down a list. "And you'll need a large amount of card advantage to reliably trigger the effect of your monster. They'll also serve to expand your options and gather the cards that you want." Eldest smiled, and he handed the list to Eloe. "Here, that should help you out." He noted the structure deck in Eloe's hand and nodded in approval. "That's a good start," he said, accepting Eloe's yen.

As they took the structure deck and the cards that Akira had scrounged up (and paid for the latter too), Eldest added. "Have you taught her about the extra deck yet?"

Eloe went red. "I thought it would be more useful to stick to the basics," she said.

Eldest nodded. "Not a bad idea. Don't wait too long, though, especially if you're going to have her duel someone of Fang's calibre again anytime soon."

"What's the extra deck?" asked Yumi.

"Monsters that aren't kept in the main deck," explained Eloe. "There's a fair few types, but they require specific summoning conditions."

"Like releases?" asked Yumi.

"Kind of," said Akira. "I've got some in my deck. I could show you if you'd like."

"Slow down," replied Eloe before Yumi could answer. "Let's rebuild her deck and then test it out against you before we get into that."

"Oh yeah!" said Akira. "That'll be fun!"

He paled when he saw Fang and her friends walking by, and hid behind Eloe. Fang didn't see him, and Yumi was wondering how he thought he could hide himself behind them when he was close to a head taller than them.

Even so, Akira didn't come out of hiding until Fang had passed completely out of sight, and he stayed quiet until they got to Yumi's room.

"Whew," gasped Akira, falling onto Yumi's futon. "That was stressful."

Eloe sighed as she sat down beside him, wiggling her toes. "You know, Akira, you can't just keep hiding behind us and expecting Fang not to take notice every time we see her," she said.

Akira shrugged. "Not every time," he said flimsily. "I mean, they'll be few and far between…"

"She's in our class, Akira," pointed out Yumi as she flopped down behind her friend, opening the structure deck box. She flipped through the cards with wide eyes. "Hey! These will help quite a lot!" she said in earnest.

Eloe smiled. "See?" she said. "Akira, you did find her the cards on Eldest's list, right?"

Akira dug them out of his pocket. "I found some of them, yeah," he said. "There might be more that are difficult to get hold of, given their value," he admitted.

Eloe took the cards and looked over them. "It's a decent start, and it's a far cry from what you had against Fang," she said.

"You said that last time," replied Yumi.

Eloe flushed and looked away. "I was trying to soften the blow, and I was hoping you'd give up on that insane plan of yours."

Yumi's face fell. "Really?" she asked sadly.

Eloe instantly felt guilty. "You're not trying to make me feel bad on purpose, are you?" she asked critically.

Yumi shrugged, and gave a weak smile. "I don't know," she said. "Am I?"

Eloe's brain slowly started turning to mush until she shook her head to snap herself out of it. "I'll never know with you, will I?" she asked Yumi, before laughing.

Akira looked from both of his friends to the other with a confused expression on his face. "Uhh, Akira to girls, helllooo?!" he called. "Weren't we reworking Yumi's deck?"

"_We_ are," replied Eloe. "You aren't."

Akira sat up violently, nearly dislodging Yumi from her futon. "What? Why?" he asked in surprise.

"Because you're going to help us test it out, that's why," replied Eloe.

Akira thought to himself for a minute, and he eventually conceded that the statement made sense. He quickly leaned back and leapt off the futon, and this time he did dislodge Yumi, sending her tumbling to the ground and scattering cards everywhere.

Sighing, Eloe began to pick them up. "Do you mind, Akira?" she asked.

"Sorry," replied Akira. "I'll go get my deck and my duel disk, and I'll meet you guys…"

"Meet us by our lunch spot," replied Eloe, as she laid out Yumi's cards. "No peeking!" she added, as Akira hesitated by the door.

"Gotcha-I'll-meet-you-at-the-usual-spot," replied Akira as quickly as he could.

He dashed out the door before either Yumi (who had just managed to sit up again) or Eloe could respond, leaving them both open-mouthed.

"Do you think we'll get used to that any time soon?" asked Yumi.

Eloe shook her head. "Probably not. He never sits still, that boy," she said. "Anyway, let's make you a proper deck!"

* * *

Yumi looked at the deck in her hand with pride as she walked towards where Akira was restlessly waiting.

Akira looked bored, but as soon as he saw Yumi and Eloe he brightened up considerably. "All right, let's go!" he cheered. He took out his Duel Pad and tossed it up, slipping on his duel disk, and then catching the Duel Pad, attaching it to his disk so that the card zones could shoot out. "My duel disk is set!" he said.

"And so is mine!" replied Yumi, opting for a more normal method of placing her Duel Pad on her duel disk. Her eyes glowed a bright blue, before the glow faded, leaving a luminous shine to Yumi's irises.

"Duel Gazer on…" muttered Akira.

A cool female voice rang out: _"Authentic Reality Vision Link Established."_

As Eloe fitted her own Duel Gazer on, green digits began to rise through the air, and those students without Duel Gazers disappeared

Yumi and Akira drew their starting hands with a cry of "Let's duel!" Their life point meters flashed up.

"You can go first, Yumi," said Akira generously.

"Then I'll draw!" called Yumi, drawing a card with a flourish. "I summon Sice Reaper!" she called, placing the card on her duel disk.

A white-haired woman in black armour and a red scarf appeared, brandishing a scythe. (1000/1500)

"I now place a card face-down and end my turn!" finished Yumi, slotting a card into her disk.

"Sweet, now it's my move!" called Akira. He drew his card, and grinned. "I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode!" he called. A brown quadruped saurian appeared from a water twister, composed of flowing liquid. (1600/1000)

"Now my Hydrogeddon will attack Sice Reaper!" called Akira. "Hydro Gust!"

Hydrogeddon breathed a blast of brown liquid at Sice Reaper.

"I activate a trap card!" called Yumi. "Card Defense! With this card, I can discard a card when you attack," she explained, slotting a card into her graveyard, "negate the attack," she added as a barrier of cards blocked Hydrogeddon's attack, "and then I can draw a card!" she finished, drawing.

"Aw, nuts!" protested Akira. "I'll just play a card face-down, and end my turn," he said.

"Good work so far, Yumi!" called Eloe. "You're doing well!"

"Hey, don't encourage her!" protested Akira.

"Why not?" replied Eloe, throwing him a glare.

Akira quailed. "Sorry," he said.

Yumi laughed, and both Eloe and Akira looked at her. "Sorry," she said. "I just love having friends like you guys."

Akira grinned. "Well, thanks!" he said, throwing out his chest.

"Not gonna stop me from beating you, though!" replied Yumi, drawing her next card.

Sice Reaper suddenly cried out, and glowed with a power aura, her attack points increasing to 1400.

"Hang on, how did Sice Reaper just gain more attack points?" asked Akira.

"It's her effect!" explained Yumi. "During my...standby phase...Sice Reaper gains four-hundred attack points!"

Akira grimaced. "That's just annoying," he said irritably.

Yumi frowned. "How about I give you something to worry about, then?" she asked. "I summon Monk of Eight!" she called.

The tall burly man in a grey coat leapt onto the field from a blaze of light. (1800/1800)

"Now I activate the effect of the Trey Archer that's sleeping in my graveyard!" added Yumi. "When I normal summon a warrior, I can special summon Trey Archer from the graveyard in defense mode!"

"What?!" asked Akira in shock as a purple graveyard portal opened in front of Yumi. An arrow with a cord attached shot from the graveyard portal and sliced past Akira, who jumped with a yelp as his life points decreased to 3700. An archer in yellow and orange fatigues leapt out of the portal with an easy grin. (1500/1300)

"Trey Archer also deals three-hundred points of damage when he's summoned by his effect!" explained Yumi.

"Well, that stings!" muttered Akira. "If you think that you've got what it takes, then come at me, Yumi!" he called.

"You got it, Akira!" replied Yumi. "I attack Hydrogeddon with Monk of Eight!" she called.

The Monk charged forwards, and lashed out with a punch that shattered Hydrogeddon into gold dust.

Akira shielded himself from the backlash as his life points decreased to 3500. "Sucker!" he called. "When I take battle damage, I can summon Photoneddon from my hand!" he called, placing the card on his disk. A glowing blue lizard appeared, with a triangular head. (1000/1000)

Yumi was a little disappointed. "A monster effect that activated in the hand?" she asked. "I'll just take it out with Sice Reaper!" she called.

Sice Reaper dashed towards Akira's monster and cut it in two.

"I play one card face-down, and end my turn," said Yumi, slotting the card into her Duel Pad.

Akira quickly drew, and he looked at his hand. _Does she have a face-down card that can stop me?_, he wondered. _I mean, I should have figured it out after she did well against Fang, but she's really good! Really, really good!_, he thought. He looked up at Yumi and grinned. _It's exciting!_

Yumi smiled back, and Akira went red. Focus, Akira!, he thought to himself. "I summon another Hydrogeddon!" he called. Another brown water monster appeared on his field.

_I'm gonna risk it!_, thought Akira. "I attack your Sice Reaper with Hydrogeddon!" he called. "Hydro Gust!"

Hydrogeddon exhaled a blast of brown liquid, shattering Sice Reaper into dust and reducing Yumi to 3800 life points.

Eloe frowned. _Yumi might be in trouble, now that Akira's managed to destroy a monster…_, she thought to herself.

"I activate my Hydrogeddon's effect!" added Akira. "When he destroys a monster in battle, I can special summon another one directly from my deck!"

Hydrogeddon roared, and it began to churn, splitting in two, each portion forming another Hydrogeddon.

"Now Hydrogeddon number two gets to attack!" called Akira. "Destroy Trey Archer! Hydro Gust!"

The new Hydrogeddon blasted Trey Archer with brown liquid and shattered it.

"Yeah!" cheered Akira. "I set a card face-down!" he added as an afterthought. "That's my turn done!"

Yumi drew her card. "On my turn…" she said. "I summon Knight of Twin Swords!"

Yumi's purple armoured Knight appeared, brandishing twin blades. (1400/1400)

"Then I activate its effect, and I reveal the top card of my deck!" called Yumi, drawing the card.

"And if it's level four or lower, you can special summon it," replied Akira. "Great." _As fast as I get rid of her monsters, she keeps on summoning them!_, he thought.

"I drew a spell card," explained Yumi.

Akira brightened up. "Great! So you don't get an extra monster this turn!"

Yumi frowned. "No…" she admitted. "I have to send it to the graveyard…" She slotted the card into her graveyard. "…but in exchange, Knight of Twin Swords gets to attack twice during this turn!"

"Wait, what?" asked Akira. "That doesn't matter!" he pointed out. "My monsters have more attack points than your Knight, so its ability is wasted!"

Yumi smiled sneakily, and Akira winced. _Uh-oh_, he thought. _That can't be good._

"I play a spell card, Card Rotator!" called Yumi, slotting it into her Duel Pad. "By discarding a card from my hand…" she said, slotting a card into her graveyard. "…I can change the battle modes of all the monsters that are on your field!"

"Aw, no!" protested Akira as his Hydrogeddons hunched down.

"Now, it's time to attack!" declared Yumi. "Knight of Twin Swords, attack his Hydrogeddons!"

The Knight dived forwards between the two monsters, dragging his swords along their flanks and shattering them.

Akira flinched as his field was wiped bare.

"Now, Monk of Eight will attack you directly!" called Yumi as her Monk charged.

Akira reacted quickly. "I don't think so!" he replied. "I play the trap card, Magic Cylinder!" he called.

As two cylinders appeared on his field, he explained, "This card negates your attack…" and Monk of Eight's arm disappeared into one cylinder. "…and then you take damage equal to your monster's attack points!" finished Akira.

Monk of Eight's arm came out of the other cylinder, and extended a ridiculous length to punch Yumi across the face.

"Ahh!" yelped Yumi as her life points decreased to 2000.

Akira gulped. "Sorry," he said.

"Don't apologize, Akira," commented Eloe. "Just duel and enjoy yourself!"

"Yeah!" chimed in Yumi. "That's my turn done, so come and get me, Akira!"

Akira smiled. "Oh yeah!" he cheered again. "Music to my ears!" He drew quickly. "I summon Oxygeddon!" he called. A green, cloudy pterosaur appeared in front of him.

"Attack her Knight of Twin Swords!" called Akira. "Vapour Stream!"

Oxygeddon breathed a green tinged blast of air at Knight of Twin Swords and the warrior monster shattered.

"All right!" cheered Akira as Yumi's life points decreased to 1600. "I end my turn!"

"My turn," said Yumi, drawing a card. "I draw."

She looked at the card and she smiled. _Lustrous Glider…_, she smiled. _When Eloe dug you out of her old card collection, I knew you were a monster for me instantly…_

Something in her voice struck Eloe, and she leaned forwards. _What was that sensation?_, she thought to herself. _I'd better be ready to step in…_

Yumi's eyes glowed blue. "I play the trap card, Call of the Haunted," said, flipping the trap card. "I bring back Sice Reaper from the graveyard in attack mode."

The scythe wielding warrior leapt out of a graveyard portal and swung her weapon.

"Then I release both of my monsters and perform and advance summon!" called Yumi. "I call you forth, my Lustrous Glider!" she cried.

The plane winged, white dragon appeared and keened loudly. (2500/2000)

_There it is_, thought Eloe. _That's the monster…_

"Lustrous Glider!" yelled Yumi in a distorted voice. "Attack and destroy Oxygeddon! Burst Stream!"

Lustrous Glider drew its head back and fired a stream of lightning from its mouth, atomizing Oxygeddon.

Akira covered his head as a gust whipped around him, reducing his life points to 2800.

"I play a card face-down and end my turn," said Yumi.

Eloe watched in frozen horror. _Can she stop herself?_, she wondered. _It was definitely that monster that got her more intense against Fang. _She clenched her fists. _If it comes to it, I'll keep Akira from getting hurt_, she thought firmly. _Then I'll have to figure out what is going on with Yumi…but in the meantime, I'll give Akira the chance to get himself out of this mess_, she thought as Akira righted himself, and announced his draw.

Akira grinned, and slid a card into his Duel Pad. "I play a spell card!" he called. "Miracle Bonding! This card allows me to banish "eddon" monsters from my graveyard that appear in the card text of a Bonding spell, and then I can special summon the other monster that's in the card text from my hand, deck or graveyard!"

Eloe was quite surprised. _Why am I surprised?_, she asked herself. _He did mention that he found new cards today though, so he might have got it there…and in any case, I shouldn't doubt his dueling prowess like that._

"So, by removing two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon from the graveyard…" declared Akira as the three cards were ejected from his graveyard and the three monsters appeared in front of them. "…and then they bond together to summon Water Dragon!"

The three monsters swirled together, forming a serpentine creature that appeared to be completely formed form rushing water. (2800/2600)

"Your dragon's too beautiful to destroy, but I'm gonna do it anyway!" commented Akira. "Water Dragon! Attack Lustrous Glider with Tidal Blast!"

Water Dragon fired a blast of pure water from its mouth, and Yumi's expression changed to one of fear.

"I play the spell card, Hand Destruction!" she called. "With this card we both send two cards from our hands to the graveyard, and then we draw two more cards!"

Akira frowned, and he slotted his cards into the graveyard, as did Yumi. Then they both drew two more cards.

"Since I drew two cards with a card effect, Lustrous Glider's effect activates!" called Yumi. "Future Strands!"

Energy rushed into the dragon, and it keened as it increased to 3500 attack points.

"Now your attack continues!" called Yumi.

"Aw no!" protested Akira. "That dragon's got thirty-five hundred attack points!"

"Burst Stream!" yelled Yumi. Lustrous Glider drew its head back and breathed its stream of lightning at Water Dragon, dispersing the sea-serpent.

"Ahhh!" yelped Akira as his life points decreased to 2100 and the virtual water washed over him. "I use Water Dragon's effect!" he called. "When he's destroyed, I can bring back the monsters that formed him!"

Nothing happened, and Akira stood there dumbly with his hand in the air. "Huh?" he asked. "Hey, what gives?!"

Eloe sighed. "Water Dragon can only special summon the material monsters from the graveyard," she explained. "You banished them when you used Miracle Bonding to summon out Water Dragon."

Akira went a furious red. "Oh," he said awkwardly. "I'm gonna have to fix that problem aren't I?"

Eloe sweatdropped. "I think I need to help you out with your own deck…" she said.

"Hey!" yelled Akira. "Oh, right. Sorry Yumi, I'm done!" he called.

Yumi smiled, and drew.

A shiver ran down Eloe's spine as she looked at Yumi's smile. It wasn't a nice smile at all.

"Yumi! Stop!" she yelled.

Yumi's face changed, and a look of shock appeared on it. _Oh my…_, she thought. _What was I just about to do?!_ She looked at Akira and revulsion crossed her features as she realized what she'd been contemplating.

She looked at her Lustrous Glider, and an angry keen echoed in her mind.

_I control my actions_, thought Yumi. _I know what I'm doing!_

Yumi raised her arm, controlling the power. "Lustrous Glider, attack Akira directly! Burst Stream!"

Lustrous Glider breathed the stream of lightning, and Akira flinched as it slammed into him, though there was no impact as his life points decreased to zero.

"Awww," he protested. "Dang it…I lost…" He took off his Duel Gazer as a portrait with Yumi's name flashed up saying "WIN" and then the AR exploded and cycled down.

Yumi was breathing heavily.

Akira walked up to her. "Nice one, Yumi!" he said, holding out his hand.

Yumi looked at his hand timidly, and then she smiled, taking it and shaking it. "Thanks, Akira," she said.

**Original cards used in this fic. If effect unconfirmed appears in the text of a card with an effect, this means it has an additional unrevealed effect.**

**Sice Reaper  
Level 4  
DARK  
ATK: 1000  
DEF: 1500  
Warrior/Effect  
During your Standby Phase: This card gains 400 ATK. ****_Effect unconfirmed._**

**Trey Archer  
WIND  
Level 4  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1300  
Warrior/Effect  
When you Normal Summon a Warrior-Type monster: You can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard, and if you do, inflict 300 damage to your opponent. You can only use the effect of "Trey Archer" once per Duel.  
****_Note: This card first appeared during the previous chapter, but its effect was unrevealed._**

**Photoneddon  
LIGHT  
Level 4  
ATK: 1000  
DEF: 1000  
Reptile/Effect  
When you take battle damage: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only Special Summon "Photoneddon" once per turn this way. ****_Effect unconfirmed._**

**Knight of Twin Swords  
EARTH  
Level 4  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1400  
Warrior/Effect  
Once per turn: You can reveal the top card of your Deck, then apply the following effects.  
●Monster: If that monster is Level 4 or lower; Special Summon it, otherwise; banish it.  
●Spell: Send that Spell card to the Graveyard; this card can attack twice during each Battle Phase this turn.  
●Trap: ****_Effect unrevealed.  
Note: This card first appeared during the previous chapter, but its full effect was unrevealed._**

**Miracle Bonding  
SPELL  
Normal  
Banish, from your Graveyard, "eddon" monsters listed in the text of a "Bonding" Spell card; then Special Summon the other monster listed in the text of that "Bonding" Spell card from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard. You can only activate one "Miracle Bonding" per turn.**

**The last one was worded a bit weirdly, so if anyone has better wording, give me heads up.**

**Next chapter, a mysterious figure appears at Duel Academy Sanctuary, and Yumi's secrets come to light!**

**Now I need to find a new ending clause.**

**Sanokal.**

**That should do, actually.**


	5. Yumi's Secret! Part 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6th RoC**

**This chapter is an important one, however far this series ends up going. I believe that you'll see why before the end of this chapter. Duel Monsters isn't appearing for a wee bit, so I may struggle with the length of the chapters.**

**It wasn't too much of a problem for this one, however, because it was all so juicy-sweet! I did enjoy building up a few more parts of it, and expanding the currently limited picture that we have of Duel Academy Sanctuary. I certainly hope that I'll be able to do so more in the next chapter.**

**Anyway, you don't need to hear me ramble, let's see this thing happen!**

_Yumi's Secret! Part 1_

Rain was streaming through the sky in a torrent, and obscuring the windows of a white limousine as it drove through the streets. It pulled up outside an airport terminal, and it sat there, waiting.

After a few minutes, the airport doors opened. A broad shouldered figure in a suit stood there – a white suit, with black undershirt and a white tie, holding a dark umbrella over his head, and carrying a briefcase in one hand.

He walked towards the limousine almost mechanically, opened the door, and got in, taking care not to get a drop of water on himself as he stowed his umbrella away.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Tsin," his driver said politely. "Was your trip productive?"

"Yes," replied Tsin in a dangerous voice that spoke volumes. "It was…nostalgic to say the least. We were most fortunate to land before the rainstorm hit."

The driver nodded. "To your home, Mr Tsin?" he asked.

"Yes," Tsin replied. "Tomorrow though, I shall not require your services unless circumstances are more pressing."

"I assume you shall be wanting a different choice of vehicle then, sir?" asked his driver.

"Yes, I think that shall do nicely," replied Tsin. A flash of lightning illuminated his craggy features and shoulder-length grey hair.

* * *

_Why does stuff always have to happen in history?_, wondered Yumi as she rested her hand against her face with a bored expression, while one of Fang's friends silently bickered with another student in the background.

Beside her, Akira was flipping through his notes on his Duel Pad – _probably Egyptian_, thought Yumi. _It's the only subject that he's ever interested in._

Out of sheer boredom, she asked Akira what he'd been looking at after history had finished.

"Yeah, it's Egyptian stuff," said Akira, who was a little annoyed that Yumi had decided that he'd had to have been looking at Egyptian history if he wasn't paying attention.

Eloe withheld a sarcastic comment, and looked over Akira's shoulder (standing up on her toes to do so) at what he'd been reading. "It says something about a new exhibit coming to town," she recited.

Akira nodded. "Yeah!" He scrolled down his Duel Pad quickly. "And that's not the best bit!" he added, enlarging an area on the screen. "They're going to be passing through here!" he said happily.

Yumi was quite interested. "Well, maybe we can have a peek?" she asked with a smile.

"I'll say!" Akira said. "There'll be mummies and everything! They were ancient kings, whose magicians practiced shadow magic!"

Eloe flinched, and she went whiter than Yumi. "Mummies? Shadow magic?" she asked. "Yech."

Akira laughed. "Oh, come on, it's not like they'll be in your face or anything!" he reassured her. "Besides, they're normal people, just very well-preserved," he added.

Yumi laughed as Eloe retorted, "I'm still not convinced."

Akira shrugged as he looked at the information on his Duel Pad. "Look, I'll hold your hand if you're scared, all right?" he said calmly.

_I'm scared_, thought Yumi. _Shadow magic? Is that related to a Shadow Game in any way?_

She didn't mention it, but Eloe was watching Yumi out of the corner of her eye. _She looks nervous_, thought Eloe. _I am too, now that she is, what with that "shadow magic" that got mentioned._

Eloe realized what she was thinking, and she quickly shook her head in shock. _Yikes!_, she thought. _I'm overthinking this, I really am! It's not like I figure out that Yumi might have some "shadow power" and then, an opportunity that describes similar powers comes wandering into our Academy!_, she thought to herself derisively.

"So that's settled!" said Akira happily. "We'll go and see it tomorrow!" He grinned, sliding his Duel pad into his pocket before leaping into the air happily. Yumi and Eloe moved quickly out of his way to avoid any unwanted accidents.

* * *

"That's another one crossed off the list," Eloe said as the trio walked to the auditorium the next day after class.

"One more what?" asked Akira obliviously.

"Another subject that you find interesting in some way," explained Eloe.

Akira laughed. "You have a list?" he joked.

"Of course I do," replied Eloe with complete sincerity. "It's my goal to get you to be interested in each of our subjects this year."

"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself?" asked Yumi.

"I am worrying about myself," replied Eloe. "If Akira keeps on slacking off, I'm going to go insane."

Akira grinned slyly. "In that case, it's _my_ goal to drive you insane by the end of the year!" he said happily. "Oops!" he yelped as he almost crashed into a man wearing a white suit. "I'm so sorry!" he yelped, bowing humbly.

"Now, now, it was only an accident," replied the man, an older gentleman with shoulder-length grey hair and a bearded face. "Forgive my interruption, but are you on your way to see the Egyptian works?" he asked.

"Yeah!" replied Akira. "Yes sir, we sure are!"

The man smiled. "I am most glad," he admitted. "It is garnering interest in Egyptian culture, and it also means that I do not have to make a sales pitch to convince you to go."

Akira grinned. "Hey, I'm sure it would have been a good one!"

The man bowed slightly. "Your confidence in my speaking abilities is flattering, Mr…?"

"Shokan! Akira Shokan, but you can just call me Akira," replied the monochrome-haired student.

"Very well, Mr. Shokan, I hope you and your friends enjoy the exhibit," said the man. "If you'll excuse me, I have some business to discuss with Headmaster Lotus."

The group nodded, and they stepped aside to let the man pass. He nodded in reply, and headed down the hallway.

"Come on," said Akira. "I really want to see this stuff now!" He took off running, with the girls close behind him, and threaded his way through the corridors and people, sending at least one person flying.

Eloe and Yumi followed somewhat more carefully, apologizing to the people that Akira had pushed past.

"Sorry, sorry, excuse me please," said Eloe, red-faced.

"I'm so sorry, let me through please," added Yumi. _Whew. Good thing Fang wasn't around…_

"Sorry!" they heard Akira yell.

_Did I speak too soon?_, wondered Yumi as she heard a thick smack.

Fortunately, this wasn't the case, as Akira had only crashed headlong into little Teri Zone, and while Akira had only ended up on his backside, Zone had been thrown halfway down the hallway.

Akira picked himself up. "Sorry, Teri!" he called, taking off again.

Eloe sighed, and kept after Akira, but Yumi stopped to help Zone up before following them.

They finally caught up with Akira after he'd skidded to a stop after arriving outside the auditorium.

"Do you mind waiting a few minutes?" asked Eloe, her hand on her knees as she gasped for breath.

Akira turned and frowned. "Why?" he asked in confusion. "I ran all the way here, and now you want to wait?"

"Just slow down next time," Eloe said as she straightened up. "All right, let's take a look at this exhibit."

With that, they opened the door and stepped inside.

The auditorium wasn't packed, but it was still fairly full of students that were looking around at the exhibits.

A beautiful necklace caught Eloe's eyes, and she hurried over to the display case. "Wow…" she said.

Yumi looked around with interest. "So, does all of this belong to the person who dug it up?" she asked.

Akira shook his head with a chuckle. "Heck, no," he said. "Otherwise we'd never learn anything, all those private collections and everything like that would soak up what got found. Now they all belong to the Egyptian Government these days, not like before."

"What happened before?" asked Yumi.

"A lot of people took half of the discoveries for themselves," explained Akira. "Caused no end of problems from what I've heard." He saw a display, and he perked up. "Like those!" he said, rushing to a display case.

Yumi followed him, and saw seven gold objects lying in the display case.

"Replicas, like I thought," admitted Akira. "But still, there they are!" he said happily. "Those were some of the more important items to come out of Egypt, and they got destroyed…such a waste…"

"What are they?" asked Yumi.

Akira looked at her, but then he remembered that Yumi's history was poor. "They're the Millennium Items!" he explained. "Apparently, they were items that allowed their holders to summon monsters to do battle in powerful Games against one another!"

_Games…?_, wondered Yumi.

Eloe listened in the background. _I wonder…_, she thought. _Were those the same Games that Yumi played against Fang? After all, Duel Monsters did come from Egypt…_

"You know, Duel Monsters originated in Egypt, Miss Kisara," said a rich voice from behind Yumi.

Yumi turned in surprise to see Mr. Lotus standing behind her. "Sir!" she said happily. "How are you?"

Mr. Lotus smiled. "I'm quite well, thank you for asking, Miss Kisara."

"Mr. Lotus," said Eloe, bowing politely.

"I do hope you are enjoying yourself, Miss Kunari," replied Mr. Lotus.

Eloe nodded. "It's much more interesting than I thought that it would be," she admitted. "I have to thank Akira for dragging us down here."

Mr. Lotus smiled. "It's all thanks to the sponsors. Mr. Tsin was quite insistent that the exhibit be displayed here," he explained.

Yumi thought to herself for a bit _Hmmm..._ "Guy in a white suit?" she asked.

"Yes, that's him," replied Mr. Lotus. "Mr. Archer Tsin. Did you see him around here? I've been meaning to talk to him."

"Here?" asked Eloe. "Sir, we ran into Mr. Tsin earlier before we got here. He said he had to meet you at his office."

Mr. Lotus frowned. "Ah well," he said. "Once he realizes that I'm not there, he'll come back here, I'm sure."

Yumi wasn't quite convinced, and when Akira struck up a conversation with Mr. Lotus, she slipped out of the auditorium.

* * *

Archer Tsin tried the door to Mr. Lotus' office, but as he'd expected, it was locked.

He smiled, and he concentrated on the door. There was a click, and the door unlocked itself.

_Had I demonstrated any more power than that, I might as well have broadcasted my position to every psychic in the school_, he thought to himself as he stepped into the office. _Now…the database should hold all the student information…_, he thought, sitting down at the desk and tapping a few keys.

A password flashed up on the screen, and Archer smiled. _That information from the madman should make this a pushover…_, he thought, tapping the correct keys. His smile grew broader as the display shifted, and began to open.

As did the door. Archer frowned as Lotus's secretary; Mrs. Shen stepped through the door.

"I was under the impression that you were at the…exhibit…" she said.

To her credit, Archer thought, she went straight on the attack, dropping her notes and raising her hands to launch an assault of sheer pain on Archer's mind.

Archer dispelled her power with a wave of his finger. "Please excuse me, Mrs. Shen," he said apologetically. "If you are going to foolishly and futilely attempt to stop me, I suggest that you play by my rules," he explained.

Another wave of his finger, and the door closed silently behind Mrs. Shen.

"Now, we shall play a Shadow Game," explained Lotus. "The rules are simple. We shall take turns attacking each other's mental defenses in whatever manner we choose to do so."

"The last one standing wins," replied Mrs. Shen.

Archer nodded. "Yes," he said. "The loser must play the Penalty Game, nothing major." He smiled, and leant back in his chair. "I shall even let you go first."

Mrs. Shen looked a little surprised, but she focused, and as it was her turn, Archer was helpless to stop the pain that ripped through his mind, the agony beyond any that a normal human could withstand.

Therein lay Mrs. Shen's mistakes. Firstly, Archer was by no means an ordinary human being. Secondly, opening with the maximum pain meant that it couldn't get any worse.

Archer knew this for fact, and he drew strength from that.

Thirdly, exerting such pressure on the mind of another required effort, and soon Mrs. Shen was reaching the end of her rope.

"Are you quite finished yet?" asked Archer, taking his turn.

That single question was all that did it. The shock of seeing Archer sitting there casually, apparently unaffected by her powers, plus her sheer exhaustion at her attempts to cause him great pain combined, having the ultimate effect of shutting her mind down.

Though the last part was more the effects of the Penalty Game.

Archer carried her to her office. She'd wake up with a little headache afterwards due to the memory loss, but nothing too serious, and there wouldn't be anyone else disturbing him for a while.

After that mild exertion, it was a simple matter for Archer to extract the information that he wanted, copying down onto a piece of paper and storing it in his inner pocket.

He closed the files that he'd been viewing, making sure to leave no traces that he had been present.

Then he rose from the seat, had one last look around the office – it was a very nice office, and he exited the office.

On the second floor down from Lotus's office, Archer ran into the white-haired girl that he'd met earlier, Yumi was it? He didn't particularly care at the present, though there had been something about her…

"Excuse me," said Archer politely, trying to sidle past Yumi. He was therefore surprised and quite a bit annoyed when the white-haired girl put herself back in his path.

Archer tried again. "Excuse me, _please_," he said firmly.

"No," replied Yumi in a dangerous and distorted voice. Her eyes began to glow blue, and Archer stepped backwards in shock.

"What manner of fiend are you?" he asked in surprise. "This is no mere psychic power you hold."

"You were looking through the documents," Yumi stated, ignoring his question. "Why were you looking through the secrets of my home?" she asked.

Archer was a bit taken aback, but then he regained his composure and smiled.

It was Yumi's turn to be shocked as the man raised his hand, pointing his finger at her head. "A question for a question, hmm?" he asked her. "I'll have to check your power the direct way."

A shock of ice-cold water seemed to run through Yumi's mind, and the background stretched and extended away, leaving only Yumi and Archer standing there.

Archer landed with a shock, and he gasped. _It's always…rough, whenever I enter a person's mind_, he thought to himself, dusting off his sleeves casually.

He looked around, and observed the location he was in. As always, whenever he used his abilities, the mind took the form of a stone room made up of dirty yellow bricks.

"What is this?" asked Archer. "Her room is completely empty…" He walked into the centre, and he squinted at a faint image that was fluctuating.

"No…" he muttered to himself. "It isn't empty…it's unstable…"

The image was that of a futon, with Yumi's casual clothes flung all over it.

"Now this is most unusual," Archer said, peering intently at the image of the futon. "It isn't a different personality – not yet, possibly, otherwise there would be two rooms inside, unless this girl has mental defenses more capable than any psychic in this entire school." He crouched down with great interest. "Most intriguing," he said. "This really is what I've been searching for." He stood up and dusted off his hands. "Well, I certainly never expected this," Archer commented. "Finding the information that he needed, and then furthering my own studies."

"That's nice," said Yumi's voice from behind him. "I'm so glad to have been of assistance."

Archer immediately whirled around to see Yumi standing there, glaring at him.

"I don't know how you got into my mind, but I want to know why you're in here," warned Yumi.

Archer smiled. "Let's just think of me as a guest, who has come to learn more about your power," he replied evenly, clasping his hands behind his back.

Yumi looked surprised. "My power?" she asked.

Archer looked like he was enjoying himself immensely. "Ah, you don't know, do you?" he asked. "Where your shadow power comes from, I mean," he added, almost as an afterthought. "Power much like my own."

"My shadow power?" asked Yumi. "What are you talking about?"

"The power of the shadows, Miss," replied Archer. "A long-lost power now shrouded to the world."

He gestured to the room. "Your power is great, but it is unstable," he explained. "Nevertheless, it is a power that I desire. Would you be as kind as to lend me that power?"

Yumi's eyes glowed blue. "No," she said. "It's mine!" she cried in a distorted tone.

Archer smiled as he felt the power. "I assumed that you wouldn't give it up like that."

"Not without a Game," replied Yumi. "If you know about my powers, then you know about the Games as well, don't you?" she asked.

"I do indeed," replied Archer, crossing his arms.

"Then find me," replied Yumi. "That's all you have to do. I won't move, I promise. If you win, I'll give you my assistance."

"I accept," replied Archer. "Do you really think that you can stop me from finding you? We're in your mind, Miss, and I can read it freely."

Yumi smiled, and Archer just looked back stoically. "No, I don't think so Miss," he said. "You can't intimidate me with false confidence in that manner."

But Yumi continued to smile, and then she laughed quietly. "Do you really think it'll be that easy?" she asked. "You're underestimating the power of the Game," she warned him, fading away.

Archer looked around, and reached out with his mind, feeling along the walls.

His mental fingers found an edge than wasn't that in the bricks, and he smiled. He felt around some more, and found the handle, and he slid the door open.

The door closed behind him, and he looked at the maze of hallways that was in front of him.

"So unimaginative," he sighed.

Archer began to move through the maze. He opened the first door, not expecting to find anything. The same went for the second room, and the one after that one. And the next, one after the other as Archer continued deeper into the maze of Yumi's thoughts.

"All of these rooms are empty," muttered Archer in wonder. "She must be very limited."

He turned another corner, and was met with a surprise – the walls of the maze had branched out into stairways. Nothing fancy – they were all right side up.

"Certainly, she is not a limited as she led me to believe," commented Archer, walking up the stairs and opening a door.

With a resounding crack, a boulder crashed to the top of the stairs.

Archer stepped swiftly inside the room to dodge the boulder as it thundered down the stairs and vanished at the foot. "Curious," he commented. "Most curious indeed."

He looked around the room that he was standing in – it looked bare like the others, but this one seemed to have a presence in it.

"Is she here?" he wondered. "No. This is merely a shade. She might have been here sometime in the past, but no longer," he mused.

"It'll be a longer journey than that if you want to find me," Yumi's voice said, resounding from the walls.

A rushing sound echoed through the room, and Archer turned away from the door just in time to see a flood of water coming towards him. There was no time for him to guard against it, instead he allowed himself to be thrown out of the room and across Yumi's mind, landing hard on another staircase.

"Well, that was most undignified," remarked Archer, standing up and shaking his clothes. "My best suit, soaked!" He looked around. "I'm starting to think that this won't be nearly as easy as I thought it might be!"

He climbed the stairs, and opened another door, and then he ducked immediately to avoid a blast of flame that threatened to scorch his clothes.

"Most disconcerting," Archer mused. "Though those flames were certainly just an illusion, given that they lacked any substantial form of heat, I'm impressed with this girl's mental defenses." Archer shook his sleeves and straightened his tie. "I expected some resistance, given that this is a Psychic Academy, but even so, this is remarkable," he said. "But playtime's over," he added, closing his eyes and reaching out, tracing the power to its source.

"This is my mind," replied Yumi's voice. "You're _in _the source."

"My dear," replied Archer. "I'm looking for the area where the shadow power is the strongest. There, I shall find you."

He seemed to be right – his surroundings fell away from him, and he found himself in front of two doors.

Archer could tell which one had the shadow power coming from it with ease, and he walked towards it, opening the door and entering the room confidently.

A large chair sat there, facing away from him, and a white head poked out from the top.

Archer smiled, and he strode towards the chair, turning it around.

He blanched in shock.

Sitting in the chair was not Yumi, but a slumbering white dragon that was human sized in Yumi's mind.

Archer backed away, and he closed the door behind him.

Thus, there was no-one to see the eyes of the dragon snap open.

Outside the room, Archer panted. "That was no mere illusion," he gasped. "What is that creature? And why is it so…familiar?"

A loud keen echoed from the room that he had just exited.

"I think it may be wise to admit defeat and exit," admitted Archer.

"You're right," replied Yumi's voice.

The floor shattered underneath Archer, and he cried out in shock, only for someone to grab his wrist. Archer steeled himself to look up, and he saw Yumi holding his wrist.

"If I fall, I might never emerge from your mind," he commented lightly.

"It doesn't seem to bother you," observed Yumi in surprise.

"Breaking into someone's mind is a risky business, Miss," replied Archer. "These sorts of risks come with the territory."

Yumi heaved Archer to her feet, and without even a gesture, a door appeared next to her.

"Maybe you should think a little more before entering a person's mind," Yumi warned him. "It's a bad idea."

"Too true, Miss," replied Archer. "Does this mean that I have lost the Game?"

Yumi shook her head. "No. We're just getting started," she replied.

Archer nodded, and he opened the door and stepped through it.

* * *

Yumi looked at Archer as the white-suited man slumped. "Ah, 'tis never good for the body to leave it like so when entering the mind of another," muttered Archer.

"Who are you?" asked Yumi.

"I suppose, since I did not win, I owe you an answer," replied Archer. "My name is Archer Tsin, and Miss, we shall meet again." He bowed. "Good day."

With that, Archer brushed past Yumi and disappeared down the hallway.

* * *

After he'd made it past a few street blocks in the driving rain, Archer stopped under a bus stop and he pulled out his Duel Gazer, contacting his driver.

"I'm on my way to the museum," he said. "I shall meet you there."

He dialled another number, and held it to his ear. This person never used a portrait, and he didn't blame them. He knew how silly that could be. Of course, he himself had slipped up severely today, not that he would let his employer know about it.

His employer picked up on the third ring. "This better be important," replied a grumpy voice.

"The people you're looking for are definitely here," Archer said. "I checked the school records, and there were four students that matched your descriptions."

"Good," replied the employer. "You still going back tomorrow?"

Archer smiled. "Yes I am," he said as his limousine pulled up. That was most quick, he thought. "I have some interests I must follow up on."

"Keep me posted," replied the employer before hanging up.

Archer smiled. _I doubt that I shall find anything he wants_, he thought as he stepped back out into the rain, umbrella over his head. _I certainly believe that I will find plenty of information that I shall be most pleased to discover._

**Ah, goddammit, I lost the game!**

**In all seriousness, though, I quite enjoyed writing this chapter. Mainly because of Archer, who is a character that I enjoy immensely, but also because the plot is moving along quite nicely. And speaking of the plot...**

**Next week: Archer returns to Duel Academy Sanctuary, forcing Yumi to play a Shadow Game where he pulls the strings, and causing her to learn the dangers of her shadow powers firsthand.**

**Sanokal**


	6. Yumi's Secret! Part 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6****th**** RoC**

**I started this chapter late – and the internet was being rejinked, so I was a little dry on my info. I am most sorry that this was so late. Slap me hard. **

**Harder. **

**HARDER. **

**OUCH! NOT THAT HARD!**

**Ehe… **

_Yumi's Secret! Part 2_

Professor Wormwood was in shock. _Mrs. Shen…_, he thought. _Why hasn't she woken up yet?_ He sighed as he looked at the footage. The blonde woman lay in a bed in the sickbay, and the only thing that was keeping Wormwood from being by her side was the slew of paperwork that he had to get through.

He allowed himself a slight chuckle as he looked at a paper. _About the only good thing that came out of yesterday was everyone getting interested in the Egyptian exhibits_, he thought wryly, before his expression became melancholy again. _They always do, what with all the connections. _

He didn't notice Archer Tsin standing behind him until he stretched his arms, yawned, and looked in the mirror to see Archer's distinctive white suit.

He leapt to his feet in shock and turned to face the businessman. "Mr. Tsin, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Archer continued to smile. "I have business to take care of, Professor," he explained. "Business involving one of your students."

"Business, what exactly are you talking about, Tsin?" asked Wormwood angrily. "What 'business' of yours, could possibly be so important that you had to break into my office like this!" He swept his arm through the air angrily. "And furthermore, your sneaking up on me scared…me…"

Archer's smile grew wider.

"How did you sneak up on _me_?" asked Wormwood in horror as he backed away. "I should have heard you. My psychic hearing abilities would have picked you up even if you were invisible or using some stealth gear!"

Archer chuckled. "You won't need to worry about that Professor, just as the dear secretary will wake up with only a little headache when she does so."

Wormwood whitened in shock. With a yell Wormwood moved to punch Archer, swinging his slim arm. His efforts were futile; Archer caught the blow in his hand with ease.

"You should stick to the facts of your history, Professor," Archer commented, tightening his grip. He raised his other hand and laid it on Wormwood's forehead. "I'll require your services."

Wormwood struggled angrily. "Stay away!" he yelled as he felt invisible fingers clawing through his mind.

With a crash, the door burst open, and Mr. Lotus ran in. "Wormwood!" he yelled.

Wormwood was passed out on the carpet, alone.

Lotus picked him up off the floor, wincing. "For a skinny man, you are remarkably heavy, Wormwood," he commented.

"Pardon…" groaned Wormwood weakly.

Lotus smiled. "You're okay," he said in relief. "Thank goodness." Lotus helped Wormwood steady himself. "What on earth were you screaming about?" he asked.

Wormwood frowned. "Screaming?" he asked. "I…don't…remember…" Wormwood clutched his head angrily. "Why can't I remember?" he asked angrily.

Lotus flinched as he sensed an intense feeling of frustration in his colleague's thoughts. "Maybe you should get some rest now," he commented, looking at the scattered papers on the desk.

Of course, he had no way of knowing that there was a single paper that was missing.

* * *

Archer smiled as he walked down the hallway, holding the paper bearing the information of Yumi Kisara. _His information was most helpful_, he thought to himself in satisfaction.

Archer's expression darkened. _I finished my business yesterday, but…that girl has been bothering me_, he thought. _That I lost a Shadow Game to her…_, he mused. _I have my own problems to deal with now, rather than _his.

* * *

"Where were you yesterday, Yumi?" asked Eloe.

"I went to see if Mr. Tsin was waiting outside Mr. Lotus's office, that's all," explained Yumi.

"Was he?" Eloe asked hesitantly.

Yumi shook her head. "No," she sighed. "So, bottom line, I missed out on seeing more of the exhibit, and I wasted my time in a wild goose chase."

Eloe smiled, and patted Yumi on the shoulder. "It's all right," she said reassuringly. "It isn't the end of the world or anything, is it?" she asked. She checked her watch and groaned. "Lovely," she muttered. "I don't have much time left to hand in that history assignment."

Yumi smiled slyly. "I thought I was supposed to be bad at history," she commented.

"Not funny, Yumi," replied Eloe irritably. "I've finished it easily; I just didn't get the chance to hand it in yesterday." Eloe sighed. "Oh well, I'll see you later…" she said. "I'd better hurry before Professor Wormwood gets angry at me." She waved casually as she took another hallway. "See ya!"

In truth, Eloe did have an assignment to hand in, but that wasn't the only reason that she'd gotten away from Yumi.

_I don't really believe what she said about yesterday…_, thought Eloe. _What aren't you telling me, Yumi?_, she asked herself.

_Ah, I hear the voice of one who seeks the truth,_ declared a familiar voice. _Let me see what your mind contains. _

Eloe felt a jolt, and then, she was somewhere else entirely. She cried out in shock as she looked at a mirrored room, showing both her and Mr. Tsin, who had a smile on his face that made Eloe feel uncomfortable.

"Where are we?" asking Eloe nervously. _Nowhere to hide_, she thought.

"Interesting," commented Tsin. "The mirrors reflect who wherever you stand, indicating that you are full of a confidence in your abilities." He looked around at an image of Yumi, her face darkened. "How can you call a girl you don't know a friend…ah, I see." Tsin smiled. "The deception and the uncertainty are recent development in your relationship," he said.

Eloe looked at Tsin in fear, and the white suited man's grin grew larger, showing his teeth. "Confidence is a development that can be grown…" he said, closing his fist. "…And shattered in a flash."

The mirrors shattered, and Eloe screamed where no-one could hear her.

* * *

"Where's Eloe?" asked Akira as Yumi emerged from the changing rooms for their gym class.

"Handing in an assignment, I think," Yumi replied as she tied her long hair back.

Akira frowned in confusion. "What, is it late?"

"Apparently so," Yumi replied with a shrug.

"All right, everybody line up against the wall!" called a harsh voice. Their gym instructor, Mr. Tsuru, was waiting by the wall with the roll in his hands, and the students immediately filed up.

"Okay everybody, strength test time!" said Tsuru gruffly, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. "Unfortunately, the field needs to be marked out. Miss Kisara! Mind getting me the marking tool from the cupboard?" he asked.

Yumi bowed politely. "I'll get it, sir!" she replied promptly, heading to the far side of the gym. She ducked inside the cupboard, and spotted it fairly easily.

She almost didn't notice the poles falling down from another shelf. Yumi yelped in shock and dived away from the poles, thereby knocking over a case of dodge balls, thereby tipping over the mop, and whacking her over the head.

"Owww…" she groaned, picking herself up off the ground and grabbing the marker.

"Hey, Miss Kisara!" called Mr. Tsuru's voice. "Are you having trouble finding it in there?!"

"No, I've got it!" replied Yumi with a wince.

She also didn't notice that as she joined the students, Eloe was walking towards them, dusting off her hands.

"Ah, Miss Kunari," Mr. Tsuru said gruffly, cracking his knuckles. "Glad you decided to grace us with your presence. "

Eloe didn't answer; she just took her place beside Akira in the line.

Mr. Tsuru frowned. "Well…I'm surprised at the lack of response," he muttered. "Anyway, enough about that! Get your muscles ready, you lot, because by the time this class is over, you won't be able to feel them!"

* * *

"Great, now I can't feel any of my body," groaned Yumi, rubbing her arms. "First those poles knock me on the head and now Mr. Tsuru has made me numb all over with those strength tests."

"I know!" replied Akira as they walked down the hall. "It's supposed to be a _strength_ test, not trying to kill us!" He rubbed his eyes. "I didn't get enough sleep either…" he yawned. "Where's Eloe got to now?" he asked. "First she's late to class…now she can't wait to get out…are we swapping personalities?" he wondered.

Yumi shrugged. "Well, it is a psychic Academy," she commented. "But I don't think that's it, otherwise she'd be happier."

Akira smiled. "I suppose so," he admitted. "Well, she hasn't taken it from me yet!" he said proudly, thrusting out his chest.

Yumi smiled. "And then Eloe would shoot you down," she reminded him.

"In flames!" Akira finished with a giant grin on his face. Then his grin disappeared. "Hey watch out!" he yelled.

Yumi opened her mouth to ask Akira what the problem was, but she was cut off as a dodge ball cannoned into her, knocking her off balance.

And right off the stairs, tumbling head over heels almost comically, but with brutal force.

"Yumi!" cried Akira in horror. He turned to see everyone walking through the corridor without paying attention, even Eloe and little Zone didn't pay Yumi any heed.

_Elitist jerks!_, thought Akira angrily. "Yumi!" he called, running down the stairs. "Are your all right, are you hurt?!" he asked in fear.

Yumi groaned in pain.

"Oh!" moaned Akira, flapping his hands about. "Oh, come on!" He dithered about for a few moments. "Oh, come on, Shokan, pull yourself together man!" He gestured wildly for a few more seconds. "The infirmary, right! I'd better get her to the infirmary!"

He hoisted Yumi to her feet, and helped her up the stairs and along the corridor carefully. Fortunately, the infirmary wasn't far away, or rather, less fortunate, as it had been constructed near the gym for practical purposes.

Miss Orchid was quite surprised when Akira brought Yumi in, but not because someone had been brought in. "I'd expected _someone_ to be tired out by Tsuru's mad strength tests enough so that they were brought in," she admitted. "But I certainly didn't think that _you_ would be bringing _Miss Kisara_ into the infirmary," Miss Orchid finished as Akira laid Yumi on the bed.

Akira flushed. "She fell down some stairs," he admitted. "Someone threw a dodge ball at her."

Miss Orchid wasn't happy. "If I find that she was knocked down for doing badly in the strength tests…" she muttered, resting her hand on Yumi's forehead.

_Well, that's odd_, she thought. _Miss Kisara's forehead feels very warm. I wonder if she has a fever?_ She cleared her throat. "I think, Mr Shokan," she began.

"Akira," interrupted Akira.

"Miss Kisara had better stay here," finished Miss Orchid. "Not for any major period of time though, especially as class is over for the day."

Akira was about to protest, but he just nodded. "Can I come back after dinner?" he asked.

"Yes, that should be acceptable," replied Miss Orchid.

Akira burst out in a wild grin. "Sweet!" he cheered.

* * *

Akira couldn't concentrate during work that night, to the point that Mr. Hedge would have yelled at him earlier. After the incident with Mr. Tatsu, however, Mr. Lotus had been furious that he had been stashing cigarettes away, and had reprimanded him severely, on top of the psychological terror that had been inflicted on Hedge by the whole hostage situation. So instead, Hedge assumed that he was being tortured by the memories of those events as he was, and treated him appropriately.

_I'm being treated like I'm throwing rocks in a glasshouse_, thought Akira irritably.

He was rather surprised when little Teri Zone asked if he could go with him to visit Yumi afterwards.

"You got a crush on her or something?" joked Akira.

Zone went bright red. "No, I just thought that I should show some concern…I mean, I didn't earlier after she got knocked down the stairs…and she did when I got knocked over by _you_."

Akira grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I've been meaning to apologize about that," he admitted. "Sorry," he said, bowing.

Zone's blush deepened, if it was possible.

"Besides," commented Akira. "You're not the only one that ignored her, even Eloe didn't seem to think that she was worth stopping to help, which is odd for her…"

"She has been acting odd recently," admitted Zone. "I wonder if we'll see her at the infirmary."

Akira shrugged. "I don't know," he said, pushing open the door – and seeing Eloe standing over Yumi, her hands outstretched as if to choke her.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Akira in shock, grabbing Eloe and pushing her away from Yumi.

Eloe staggered, and she looked up at Akira as Zone rushed over to check on Yumi. She smiled, and then spoke in another voice.

"I know you can hear me, Yumi Kisara," Eloe said with the voice of Archer Tsin. "Show me your true power so we can settle our Game."

As Yumi's eyes snapped open, Akira yelped in shock. "Eloe Kunari, you sound like a man!"

"Does it trouble you?" asked Eloe, still with Archer's voice.

"No, I still find you as attractive as ever!" Akira squeaked.

"What are you doing?" asked Yumi weakly, struggling to sit up. Zone carefully gave her a hand.

"Ah, Miss Kisara," commented Eloe. "How nice to see you again."

Then she turned and ran out of the room.

"Hey!' yelled Akira. "Eloe, get back here!"

He ran after her, but Eloe, or rather, Archer, was quicker than they thought, and he couldn't see her anywhere.

Yumi walked out, with Zone supporting her as best as he could, being the smaller boy that he was.

"What is she doing?" asked Akira angrily. "She must've got you sent to the infirmary in the first place so she could ambush you."

"Not _she_," Yumi pointed out. "_He_." She winced as she felt her head. "That's not Eloe who's been hurting me. It's the guy we met yesterday, Archer Tsin."

"Whaaat?" asked Akira in shock. "How did he do that?"

Yumi sighed. "It still amazes me that you can be surprised by this kind of thing when we're in a psychic Academy."

Akira flushed an extremely deep shade of red and he turned away.

"What do you mean, Miss Kisara?" asked Zone.

"Mr Tsin tried to do it to me yesterday," explained Yumi. "He entered my mind and played around with it."

"Why?" asked Akira, turning back to face Yumi.

Yumi flushed. "I don't know," she said.

"You're lying," said Zone from beside her.

Both Akira and Yumi jumped in surprise. "What did you say?" asked Akira. "She's lying?"

Zone went red. "Sorry," he said. "I just…know when people are lying," he admitted sheepishly. "No-one wants to be around a living lie detector, do they?"

"That's not the issue," Akira pointed out. "Yumi, you know why Mr Tsin went into your mind, why did you lie?"

Yumi was a little dumbstruck. "I-I…"

"Yumi," said Akira urgently. "Whatever Mr Tsin wanted, he wants it badly enough to put Eloe and you in danger. And we don't know what he could do to Eloe if you don't do what he wants!"

Yumi nodded. "Okay…" she said. "It's – Akira, look out!" she cried.

"She's telling the truth!" yelped Zone.

Akira swung around to see Professor Wormwood swinging a pole at him. He yelled in shock, and leapt away from the blow.

Wormwood wasn't deterred, and he advanced on the trio menacingly.

"Run!" yelled Akira. "Split up!"

They turned and fled, Yumi taking the left corridor at the first fork, and Akira dragging Zone down the right-hand corridor.

Wormwood followed them, swinging the metal pole.

* * *

Yumi ran for her life, not even noticing that Wormwood wasn't pursuing her. She reached a flight of stairs and ripped the door open in her haste to get up them, wrenching her arm badly, dashing up the stairs.

_These lead up to the roof from memory_, thought Yumi as she ran as fast as she could.

She slammed into the door to the roof, and pushed it open, stumbling outside.

A horrific sight greeted her: Eloe was standing on the edge of the roof, her hair blowing in the breeze.

"Eloe!" called Yumi in horror. She rushed towards her friend, and Eloe raised her foot and stepped off the roof.

"Nooooo!" cried Yumi, as Eloe's foot descended; coming into contact with a wooden board that Yumi hadn't seen earlier.

"Is this enough, Miss Kisara?" asked the voice of Archer Tsin. The white-suited man stood on the other side of the campus, with two boards connecting the building that he stood on to the one where Yumi and Eloe were.

"I've been trying to draw out your powers through threatening you," admitted Archer. "Unfortunately, it hasn't been working. A foreseeable, if unfortunate circumstance, to be sure," Archer admitted. He inspected his hand for some non-existent dirt. "Therefore, my backup plan is to have you play a Shadow Game directly.

Yumi clenched her fists, and her eyes glowed blue. "Then get over here," she snarled in a distorted voice.

Archer chuckled. "I think not," he replied. "Why sully my hands when I have control over your friend to do so for me?" he asked.

* * *

"Did we lose him?" asked Zone, panting.

"I dunno," admitted Akira. "I think so, at least for now."

Wormwood's voice bubbled out of the shadows. "There you are!" he yelled, sprinting towards them.

Both Akira and Zone jumped in shock. "Run!" said Akira flippantly, and the two of them turned tail and fled – again.

* * *

"Ah, Miss Kisara," Archer replied. "Let the danger that your friend is in spur you on!"

"Oh, I'll show you what my being 'spurred on' is like," warned Yumi, as winds began to whip up behind her.

Archer raised his hand. "Ah, ah," he cautioned. "You don't want to lose your friend so quickly, do you?" he asked. "After all, I don't want to end this so quickly. I want to finish matters with you." He smiled, clasping his hands behind his back.

Yumi gritted her teeth, and the winds died down. "I can't believe that you'd use Eloe in your own Game!" she yelled.

Archer raised his hand. "Now, before I explain the rules of the Game, I feel the need to warn you that as someone who can play a Shadow Game, you are one of a chosen few in the world."

"Can we get on with this?" asked Yumi. "Please? I don't care about how _you_ think that I'm chosen I just want you to explain the rules."

Archer smiled. "To the point then, hmm?" he asked. "Very well Miss Kisara. But on no condition should you fear your power, do you understand?" he asked. He pointed at Eloe, who raised her other foot – the one that had still been on the roof, and she brought it down on the plank, wobbling a little.

Yumi calmed down as Eloe stopped swaying – and then it struck her.

Archer chuckled to himself. "Ah, I see that you understand that the Game has already started," he remarked. "The rules are quite simple," he admitted. "You must make it across the boards to win, before Miss Kunari does," he explained.

"Is that all?" asked Yumi.

"Goodness gracious, no," replied Archer. "You shouldn't need worry about losing your balance unless you worry about losing said balance."

Yumi realized what Archer was telling her. "If I show weakness…"

"You shall fall," Archer finished. "Now that the rules have been explained, the Game begins."

Yumi almost expected an audible music cue, such was her tenseness.

Slowly, she carefully took off her shoes and climbed up onto the other board. As soon as she saw that Eloe was still wearing her slightly heeled boots of her school uniform, she started worrying.

"Are your familiar with the nine squared-mirrors?" asked Archer.

"The what?" asked Yumi as she walked slowly, mirroring Eloe's movements.

"The mirror reflecting the monster in all of us, each square representing a pair bar one," Archer explained. "Tell me, what would you decide that one to be?"

Yumi frowned, and she began to lose her balance. "The mouth?" she asked, moving her left foot forwards. _That's easier,_ she thought in relief, shuffling forwards slowly.

"Correct you are, Miss Kisara," replied Archer.

Yumi flinched, and she began to teeter. _No!_, she thought in shock. _No, I can't falter, I can't falter, don't think about it Yumi, come on… _

* * *

"Dangit!" yelped Akira, ducking from the next swipe of Wormwood's pole. "Zone! Little help?" he asked.

Zone leapt off the ground and he threw himself at Wormwood, wrapping his arms around Wormwood's neck.

Akira seized his chance to dive forwards and tackle Wormwood, knocking him to the ground and sending little Zone flying.

Wormwood recovered quickly, grabbing Akira by the scuff of the neck with surprising force and pushing him towards a window. Fortunately, the force wasn't enough to break the glass, and Akira lashed out with a kick, catching Wormwood in the solar plexus. "This isn't funny, sir!" Akira yelled. He caught a glance out of the window and he gasped in shock as he saw Eloe and Yumi standing on the planks.

* * *

"I have another riddle for you, Miss Kisara," Archer said.

"What if I don't want to hear it?" retorted Yumi tensely, trying to keep her balance.

Archer smiled at her anger. "Ah, come now Miss Kisara, be a good sport, I think that the phrase is." He smiled. "What crawls on the ground and clings to a pillar, Miss Kisara?"

Yumi thought for a moment, and she stopped.

Archer smiled.

"The answer is my shadow," Yumi replied. Then she realized that Eloe was getting ahead of her. "Hey!" she yelled, and she began to move forwards again, shuffling as fast as she could, but she was still battered and bruised from earlier.

Archer smiled, and noted her posture. _The left foot forward,_ he thought to himself. _She only proves my beliefs_, he thought, his smile widening cruelly. "You've made it halfway, Miss Kisara," he admitted. "Splendid job, I must say."

Yumi returned his smile tightly. "Thanks," she replied nervously.

"Why don't we throw in a little twist at the end?" asked Archer, snapping his fingers.

Yumi got worried, and then suddenly, Eloe began to shake.

"No!" she cried. "No, don't make me do this!"

Archer laughed. _Now that she is linked by her heart to her friend's movements, she is much more vulnerable to change_, he thought in satisfaction. _This is my revenge, Miss Kisara. _

"Hold him off, Zone!" yelled the voice of Akira.

Startled, Archer looked down to see the monochrome-haired student standing on a windowsill beneath him, holding up Eloe's board.

_Futile,_ he thought. _And yet he still attempts to save his friends?_

Yumi began to teeter, and despite herself, she smiled. _His heart is linked to my movements_, she thought. _I've got him now. _

Then, the most surprising noise rang through the air: the ringtone of Archer's Duel Gazer.

Archer withdrew the communicator from his pocket in surprise, and he touched the screen to answer it, holding it up to his ear.

"Yes?" he asked slowly. This was going to be awkward.

_"What the heck are you doing?" _asked the voice of his employer. _"I'm getting images of a certain Academy, and boards across it with two girls from this certain Academy walking across them, and _you _watching them, and I can't help but think that you have something to do with it." _

Archer frowned. _Is he going to interfere?_, he asked himself. "Does it displease you, that this is occurring?" he asked carefully.

_"Seeing as neither of them is one of the students I asked you to identify, yes, it does displease me," _snapped the employer. _"I'm no murderer, and you know that."_

Archer smiled to himself. _This'll get him_, he thought. "It's a Game, sir," he replied. "It must continue to the end."

_"Is it really?" _asked the employer. _"And who is playing against who for what reason?"_ he added.

Archer scowled. _He's getting too invasive_, he thought, but he answered truthfully. "I have…coerced one of the girls into playing against the other, who is under my control."

_"Right," _muttered the employer. _"Now you listen to me now, and you listen well,"_ he warned Archer. _"If you can't stop that petty game, I suggest that you get up there and take the spot of the person you've brainwashed! Otherwise I might have to alert the authorities, and neither of us wants the police poking around that school again."_

Archer had not expected that demand. _This is unsettling…_, he thought. _I have quite underestimated him. _He stood there for a few seconds before sighing. "All right," he said. "You win."

_"Good," _replied the employer. _"No skipping out on it,"_ he warned. _"I'll know." _

With that, Archer's employer hung up.

Archer slipped the Duel Gazer back into his pocket, furious at his employer's interruption. He looked at Yumi, who had been off-balance during the entire conversation, and he snapped his fingers. "Your own weakness will affect you again," Archer replied. "And _I_ will take the place of Miss Kunari."

Yumi was floored. "You're not just going to tell that guy: stuff you, sir?" she asked.

Archer smiled sincerely for the first time. "Believe me, I would have liked to do so, but I have no doubt that the fool would make things very difficult for me had I not," he explained. He raised his hands, and Eloe floated down to Akira.

Akira immediately seized the chance to grab Eloe and haul her inside, but Archer sneakily chose that moment to relinquish his control over Eloe.

Coming to like an ice-cold bucket of water had been dumped on her head, as soon as Eloe saw how high she was above the ground, she screamed in shock.

"Hey, don't do that, I can't hold you up much longer!" protested Akira.

"Mr Shokan, watch out!" yelled Zone. "Professor Wormwood's…"

"I got it!" Akira called, lashing out with his foot and knocking Wormwood over. "Oh yeah! Who's the man?!"

Archer's lip curled. "I am almost tempted to knock him off-balance," he muttered, walking across the plank with ease until he reached the spot where Eloe had been. He snapped his fingers again, and flinched as he began to lose his balance. _Now that my senses are linked to the condition of my heart, this will be more difficult, _he thought furiously.

He looked up to see that Yumi had taken advantage of his confusion, and she was shuffling forwards at a remarkable speed.

_She's become used to standing like this!_, thought Archer furiously. His left foot in front of his right, he shuffled forwards himself with absolute confidence. Soon, his fresh frame began to catch up with the still-tired Yumi, and then he overtook her.

_I have won!_, thought Archer as he approached the wall, with Yumi still behind him.

"No!" yelled Yumi, bending her knees and pushing off. She leapt through the air with the last of her strength, and her hands grabbed for the other side of the building, but they missed, and she screamed as she began to fall –

And she felt herself stop as two hands grabbed her wrists. She looked up to see Akira and Eloe each with a hand around her wrists, and tears began to fill her eyes.

_How could I have lied to you guys?_, she thought to herself in complete shame. _My friends…_

Archer watched Eloe and Akira pull Yumi inside. He could have taken control of Eloe in an instant, but then the betrayal Miss Kisara would feel would not be the complete betrayal that he wanted her to feel.

"You have won this round, Yumi Kisara," declared Archer, snapping his fingers. The boards vanished, but he remained hovering in the air. "But our destinies will be forever linked from this day onwards."

With that, he rose above the building and vanished from Yumi's sight.

"So, Yumi," Akira said. "What is a Shadow Game?"

Yumi felt three sets of eyes on her, and she was suddenly glad that Professor Wormwood was unconscious and not adding a fourth set to the group.

* * *

Archer walked down the alleyway, furious. "We will meet again, Yumi Kisara," he muttered angrily.

"What were you thinking?!" snapped an angry voice.

Archer's head snapped up. "What do you want?!" he retorted angrily. _Why is he even here?!_, he thought furiously.

His employer grabbed him by the coat lapels and slammed him into the wall, hard. Archer gasped in pain as his shoulder struck the aggregate.

"I employed you to carry out my instructions, and you did so brilliantly," warned the employer. "I didn't employ you to go on a spree for your own sick enjoyment!" he yelled.

"It was hardly a spree," remarked Archer, but this just got him slammed into another wall. "Ouch!" he yelled in pain. "Please, go easy on the shoulder!" he protested, trying to massage the injured shoulder.

"After what you did, you're lucky I haven't turned you into the police!" snarled the employer furiously.

Archer glared at him. "That's an empty threat and you know it," he warned him.

The employer glared at him. "Perhaps," he admitted. He let go of Archer. "All right, I'm calm," he said. "I won't go back on your payment, Archer. You'll find the requested amount in your account before you've left the country."

Archer bowed politely. "Why thank you," he replied.

"But," warned the employer in a dangerous voice. "In future, stay away from that Academy. It's my territory for the time being, so I'll only be able to stop you now, not later," he admitted. "My revenge comes first, hear me?" he asked.

Archer nodded. "All right," he said. "I shall respect your wishes for the time being."

The employer inclined his head. "Good," he said shortly, turning and walking away from Archer.

**Who knew that the employer was that kind of guy? As you can see, he has a very different temperament from Archer, Archer being a guy who talks with unreal politeness and the employer…not so much. **

**Anyway, next chapter, Yumi assists a bullied student after he's mixed up in some shady business, learning just how dangerous a psychic can be. **

**Sanokal**


	7. Underhanded Rebellion

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6****th**** RoC**

**Sweet mercy, is this anvilicious! And late again, this is absolutely unforgiveable. As are many of the acts that are committed during this chapter. **

**Truth be told, with little feedback (great, now I sound like I'm begging for reviews. Idiot.) and the fact that I keep getting called out to do SOMETHING on the ruddy house, it's getting harder and harder to write this. **

**Fortunately, the next chapter shouldn't be so problematic. **

_Underhanded Rebellion_

_7:55 am, Duel Academy Sanctuary_

A group of girls were walking to their class, whispering to each other about innumerable topics.

"Hey!" snapped a thick voice from behind them. "Whaddya you think you're doing, gettin' in my way like that?"

The girls all froze, and they quickly scooted to the side, getting out of the way of a stocky boy with a mop of filthy hair.

"Oh great, it's Kurada," muttered one of the girls.

"Whatchoo say?!" snapped Kurada loudly.

"N-Nothing," protested the girl. She straightened, and recovered some of her pride to reply, "Or if I did, if was to express my surprise at how your attitude has changed from being quiet and shy."

Kurada grinned, and he dug into his pocket, withdrawing a fistful of yen. "This is why, ladies!" he crowed. He shoved another student into the wall, knocking him to the ground as he turned around. "Oh, sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Here, how about I make it up to you?" he asked as he chucked some yen at the boy, who winced as he sat up angrily, rubbing his side gingerly.

With everyone's attention focused on Kurada, no-one noticed that someone was snapping pictures of the incident.

* * *

"A Shadow Game…well, it's exactly what it sounds like," explained Yumi to Eloe, Akira, and Zone, who had decided to tag along. She looked at the ground as they walked to their class. "It's a game that often can involve some danger or supernatural qualities." She shifted her feet from side-to-side nervously. "The…loser has to play a Penalty Game," she admitted.

Akira frowned. "Penalty Game?" he asked with uncharacteristic seriousness.

Yumi nodded. "Yes," she replied. "It's usually a punishment…I think, anyway."

"You think?" asked Eloe in surprise. "Why, have you used it for other things?"

There was a stunned silence for a few seconds. "No!" protested Yumi. "Goodness, no, that would be horrible!" she cried, shuddering. "Like…torture for pleasure, or whatever it's called."

"Sadism," replied Eloe. "Like what Archer was doing."

Akira was going down a different train of thought. "You punished Mr. Thorne, didn't you?" he asked.

Yumi didn't reply immediately, she just looked at the ground. "Yes, I did," she finally admitted.

Akira winced. "Uh, thanks, I guess…" he said hesitantly, before a realization struck him. "Hang on, so you did take care of Mr. Tatsu when he went nuts in the lunchroom!" he said.

"Yes…" admitted Yumi. "Was there something wrong with that?" she asked.

"No, no way!" replied Akira. "It's just that I haven't thanked you properly for saying my life!" he explained.

Yumi smiled. "It's all right," she said. "You don't have to thank me. Any decent person should have done the same."

"Really?" asked Eloe sceptically. "You made him think that he was set on fire, Yumi, and whatever you did to Mr. Thorne landed him in the psych ward."

"Hey, she was just trying to help!" protested Akira. "It's not like she's a psychopath, like she said!"

Eloe sighed. "Sorry," she said to Yugi. "Look, I'm just saying, these Shadow Games are dangerous, right?" she asked.

"Well…yes…they are," replied Yumi uncomfortably.

"Okay," Eloe continued. "And Archer targeted you through us because of them."

Frowning, Akira immediately butted in. "Wait a minute," he protested. "You're not blaming what happened yesterday on Yumi, are you?"

"No way!" protested Eloe in horror. "That was Archer's fault, and no-one else's!" she said. "As a matter of fact, I need to thank all of you for saving my life as well!"

The other three accepted that quietly. "You're…welcome?" Yumi said carefully. "I would never let you get hurt," she added, continuing more confidently. "None of you, especially if it's my fault."

Eloe smiled. "I told you that it wasn't your fault, Yumi," she repeated. "Don't let it bother you. I don't think Archer will be bothering you any time soon."

Yumi smiled back at her friend. "I certainly hope not," she replied.

"Right," Eloe said. "But back to the Shadow Games…you don't need to punish every jerk in this Academy, you hear me, Yumi?" she said.

Yumi nodded. "I got it," she replied. "Shadow Games to a minimum." She frowned. "I'll do my best, anyway…"

"Why?" asked Zone, who'd been silent the entire time. "You're telling the truth, but why should it be hard to do your best?"

Yumi was about to answer when the bell rang.

"Oh shoot, we're gonna be late for class!" yelled Akira, and he took off, running down the hallways.

Zone was about to follow, but Eloe held him back.

What are you doing?' he asked.

"Let's just wait and see how long it takes him to realise that we've stopped outside our next class," Eloe replied, looking up at the label of their mathematics class.

"Outta the way!" growled Kurada, pushing rudely past Eloe and Yumi.

"Ouch!" yelled Eloe. "Hey, watch it Kurada!" she snapped, nursing her arm.

"Whatchoo say?" snapped Kurada thickly. "You talking back to me?!" he asked loudly, attracting everyone's attention.

Eloe and Yumi, meanwhile, were trying not to breathe in, and Zone had taken cover behind Yumi as soon as he'd seen Kurada.

"Don't be silly," whispered Yumi to Zone.

"I'm not getting hit by him again!" Zone yelped quietly.

Kurada's face lit up, and Zone cowered even more. "Hama!" he yelled. "C'mon over here."

Another short student, with purple-streaked black hair, sadly walked over. Kurada thumbed towards the bathroom, and Hama hurried inside.

"We'd better get into class while we can," Eloe said, after a few seconds of silence.

Yumi let Zone slip out from behind her, and waited until Eloe was at the door. "I'll stay here until Akira gets back," she explained.

Eloe wondered whether she should keep an eye on Yumi or not, but she remembered Yumi's statement and she nodded. "All right," replied Eloe. "Don't go getting yourself in trouble, though, you hear me?" she asked.

Yumi nodded, but as soon as Eloe was inside the class, she dived straight for a crack in the wall by the boy's bathroom and she put her ear to it.

_I've heard bad things about Kurada_, she thought to herself. _I hope Hama's not getting mixed up with him. _

"Here's more money…" whispered one of the boys.

Yumi frowned; she couldn't tell which one was speaking. She pressed her head tighter to the crack in the wall.

"Thanks…" replied the other boy.

_What the…heck is going on?_, Yumi asked herself.

With a crash, the bathroom door slammed open, and knocked Yumi into the wall as Kurada stamped out, pulled open the door to the classroom, and went inside. The door to the bathroom closed, revealing Yumi standing there with her hand over her nose. "Owww…" she moaned, pinching her nose.

While she'd been nursing her injuries, Hama had come out of the bathroom as well, and he heard Yumi's pained moans. "Is someone there?" he asked warily.

Yumi waved the hand that wasn't cupped over her nose. "Just me…" she replied weakly.

Turning to face her, Hama gasped. "Miss Kisara?" he asked in shock. "What happened to you?"

Yumi winced. "Bathroom door. Nose. Pain," she replied.

Hama winced himself. "I'm sorry," he said, before realizing what she'd said. "Excuse me, but why were you behind the door in the first place?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"I was waiting for Akira," replied Yumi.

Hama sighed heavily. "You heard what was going on in there, didn't you?" he said sadly. "Look, I know you want to ask about it and all, but could you keep that to yourself, please?" he asked. "I'm dealing with it."

Yumi hesitated, but then she nodded. "Okay," she said. "But if you want to talk, I'm free anytime," she said. "We are classmates, after all."

Hama nodded and he smiled. "Thanks," he replied. "That's a big help."

"Hey, Yumi!" called Akira. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Yumi sighed. "See ya," she said to Hama, before grabbing Akira by the wrist and dragging him into the class. "Come on, you bonehead," she said to her friend.

"Hey, anyone could make that mistake!" protested Akira.

Yumi smiled. _And yet, he was the only one of us that did_, she thought fondly.

* * *

"Where is it?" Akira asked as he flicked through the common card box. "I know that I saw it in here the other day."

Yumi, who was standing beside him and flicking through the common box herself, didn't reply, so engrossed was she in searching, skimming past several cards until she found the one she wanted. _Yes!_, she thought. _And that's all three!_, she thought happily to herself.

She hurried to the counter and paid Eldest for the cards, then she caught sight of a group of students looking at something. "What's going on?" she asked Eldest.

Eldest chuckled. "Rare cards," he commented. "Including a copy of a card known as the Gate Guardian."

"Is it good?" asked Yumi.

Eldest smiled. "Mainly in sheer attack strength, where you'd be hard pressed to find a better card," he admitted.

"And it's all mine!" said the voice of Kurada. He shoved Yumi rudely aside and slammed a fistful of yen on the counter. "I'm taking that Gate Guardian card!" he said.

Eldest scoffed. "And just why should I sell it to you after that display of poor manners?" he asked as he picked up Kurada's bills and sorted them orderly.

Kurada scowled, and he went to where the card was stored, shoved the other students out of the way, then he smashed the glass with a brick that had been in his pocket and he snatched the card.

"Mr. Kurada, you put that card down or I'm calling Mr. Lotus!" yelled Eldest in a rage.

"Keep your hair on, old man," snorted Kurada, tossing him more yen. "That's for your window!" He swept his thick arm across, knocking a boy out of the way, and then he sprinted…waddled reasonably quickly out of the shop.

Eldest cursed under his breath. "That maniac!" he snarled angrily. He smacked his fist into his palm. "Oh, if I was allowed to deal with him…" he muttered. He shook his head. "Oh, never mind," he sighed. "What's the point in agonising over it?" he asked Yumi. "After all, I suppose I can fix it…sometime…" Eldest sighed. "Here you go," he said, handing Yumi her cards.

"Thanks," replied Yumi as she took them and sipped them into her coat pocket.

"Oh, and by the way," added Eldest, as he fished under the desk and brought out another card. "You may like this as well," he told her.

Yumi looked at the card, and her eyes lit up. "Thank you, Eldest!" she cried, hugging the grizzled storeowner.

Eldest laughed heartily. "You are most welcome, Miss Kisara," he replied. "The pleasure's all mine."

Yumi nodded, but she was thinking to herself. _Was that the money that Hama had to give to Kurada?_, she wondered.

Akira scowled. "That jerk," he muttered. "How'd he have so much yen when he didn't even have _lunch_ money before?"

Eloe, who'd been leaning against a pillar the entire time, shrugged. "I'm not sure," she replied. "He used to be a decent kid, but now he's gone wild." She pushed off the wall, and stretched. "I don't think that it's too much to worry about, though," she replied.

* * *

Hama sat in his room, and he plugged a camera memory stick into his computer. He quickly uploaded several photos, all of Kurada, and he opened one, and then he sent it to the printer.

He got up and he walked over to the printer, and he smiled as he looked down at the picture of Kurada.

* * *

"Nice card, Yumi," commented Akira the next day as Yumi flipped through her Duel Monsters cards.

"Yeah," Yumi replied. "It's a good extra deck card, so Eloe's teaching me about it sometime; when she's got time, that is," she admitted.

The card was suddenly snatched out of her hand, and Kurada laughed. "This card?" he asked. "There's no way that this could be stronger than…mine." His voice trailed off as he compared the score on Yumi's card with that of his own.

"Let me guess," commented Eloe smugly. "Your Gate Guardian isn't as strong as Yumi's card."

"So what?" snapped Kurada, tossing Yumi's card back to her. "I doubt any of you have a stronger card than this one.

Eloe winced. "Okay, you've got me there, but that's hardly the point," she admitted.

"I am the strongest!" snapped Kurada rudely. "I have the more powerful card!"

"Really?" asked Akira, as he thumbed through his own cards. "Well then, let's see how you handle this!" he said, placing the card on the table.

Everyone gasped in shock, the purple-bordered card was even stronger than Yumi's, with 3900 attack points compared to the 3750 attack points of Kurada's Gate Guardian.

"Not so strong now, are you?" Akira asked him.

Kurada slammed his card onto the table and he grabbed Akira by the coattails and slammed him into the wall. "Whatchoo say, punk?!" he roared angrily.

Akira flinched from the smell of Kurada's breath. "Man, have you been smoking or something?" he asked. His hand brushed Kurada's pocket, and he quickly dipped his hand into the pocket, pulling out a packet of cigarettes.

Eloe saw what Akira had done and she quickly snatched the packet away from the group. "What is _this_?" she asked Kurada sarcastically. "Sounds like you were right on the money, Akira," she commented.

"Yeah, now I just need to get out of here," Akira replied, cracking a grin. He kicked out sharply, hitting Kurada in the knee.

With a yell of pain, Kurada fell to his knees, nursing his injured knee. "You little rat!" he snarled. "I'm gonna waste you!"

"Stop it," Eloe said. "Just stop it, Kurada. Face it, you've been beaten in more ways than I can count." She held up Kurada's bag. "Especially with all of these in your bag," she added, fishing out a few packets of cigarettes. "Are you dealing these around the Academy."

Sweating, Kurada grabbed his bag back from Eloe. "Sh-shut up!" he snapped. "That's got nothing to do with you!"

"And we don't want anything to do with you," retorted Eloe sharply. "Not unless you change your attitude, Beluga," she added.

Kurada stood there pathetically for a few seconds. "Don't use my first name!" snapped Kurada before he turned and walked away.

Yumi heard a noise behind her and she whirled around. "Oh, hey Hama," she said. "Something up?"

Hama shook his head. "It's nothing," he said timidly.

* * *

Kurada kicked his bag, sending packets of cigarettes flying everywhere. "ARRRGHH!" he yelled, kicking the wall of the shed in fury. "I can't believe that someone like that wimp had a card that was stronger than my Gate Guardian!" He blanched as he heard a beep behind him, and he turned around angrily.

Hama stood there, holding his camera, and lining it up to take another picture.

* * *

Akira hid behind the wall, straining his ears to figure out what Kurada and Hama were saying. _What the heck is going on there?_, he wondered. _I mean, why would Hama sneak up here, is he trying to catch Kurada in the act with that contraband? _He narrowed his eyes. _In that case, I'd better mitigate the situation like a pro!_

_"Caught in the act!" Akira yelled. "You're both coming to Mr. Lotus's office so that we can sort this thing out!" _

_Amazing_, thought Akira with a silly grin.

* * *

Yumi was sitting in her room, cross legged on her futon. _Hmm…_, she thought to herself. _I hope Hama's all right. _

A noise caught her attention, and she peeked out of the window to see someone sneaking through the bushes.

_Is that guy trying to…look in the girls windows?_, wondered Yumi incredulously. _Well,_ she thought, slipping her boots on. _I'll put a stop to _that. _I shouldn't need to go overboard, though. All you need to do is kick him in the right place. _

* * *

"All right…" Akira muttered. He jumped out from behind the wall. "Caught in the-"

With a groan, Kurada fell to the ground in front of him.

"-act…" finished Akira slowly. "What the heck…?" He hurried over to Kurada. "Man, what happened to you?" he asked in shock. "Your back's all bruised!"

He heard a loud crack, and looked up to see Hama standing in the shadows, but his expression had changed from the timid and friendly look that he normally sported, to a fiendish grin, made even stranger by his wide-lensed spectacles.

"Hama?" asked Akira. "What the heck are you doing here?"

Hama's grin widened. "Oh, excuse me, I was punishing my pet," he commented. "Look at him," he said. "Pretty pathetic, isn't he?"

"I guess you mean Kurada," Akira replied, clenching his fists.

"Of course," Hama replied as if this was the most natural thing in the world. "He failed to deliver his goods, _and_ he lost a game and made himself look weak in front of everyone. That makes him useless to me." He chucked, and rested his right arm in his left hand. "Now I need a stronger pet to do my dirty work."

Seething, Akira promptly yelled, "Are you listening to yourself?! You can't just treat people as pets you psychopath!"

"I don't see your point," Hama admitted. "I think it's pretty interesting myself!" He picked up a book from the ground and opened it.

Akira gasped: the book was full of pictures of Kurada, both when he was a more timid and quiet kid, and while he was committing acts of violence and destruction.

"So you made Kurada start acting like a jerkass, then?" asked Akira in disgust. He turned to leave. "I don't believe this!"

Hama scowled. "Thanks for taking care of my pet, Shokan," he told Akira. He drew his arm back, and he swung it. A loud crack echoed through the air, slicing across Akira's back.

Akira stopped short and he yelled in pain, turning to face Hama, who drew his arm back again.

"Stop that!" yelled Yumi's voice.

Both Akira and Hama jumped, and looked at the door to see Yumi standing there with her arms crossed.

"Yumi?" asked Akira. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw someone sneaking around outside our dorm rooms," explained Yumi. "I didn't think that I'd find _this_!" She stepped forwards. "Hama, this is _wrong_, really wrong!"

Hama ignored her; instead he started talking to himself. "Well, well, you've seen me during feeding time…" he mused.

"Hama!" yelled Yumi, running forwards.

Without missing a beat, Hama flicked his arm, and Yumi felt a white-hot line of pain across her face. The force of the invisible blow threw her into a pile of boxes that cushioned her fall and spilled their contents all over the ground – many more cases of cigarettes.

Smirking, Hama muttered, "Completely useless."

"Hey!" yelled Akira, charging at Hama.

Hama turned and he drew his arm back – and Akira leapt to the side, dodging the invisible blow.

Flinching, Hama sliced his arm through the air again, but Akira dodged it once more, only for Hama to abandon that attack and swipe his arm in a wide horizontal arc, hitting Akira across the chest. Akira gasped in pain and he stopped short. "Darn it…" he muttered, gingerly holding his chest. "These late nights are killing me…" He looked up at Hama furiously.

The monstrous boy gigged madly. "Now, now, now, you shouldn't look at your master like that," he said, waggling his finger. He swiped his arm again, and Akira yelled as a line of pain cracked across his shoulder, but he stayed on his feet. "Such a resistant pet!" commented Hama. "Oh, you'll be very interesting to raise."

"Until he loses a game?" asked Yumi from behind Hama as she picked herself up.

Hama turned towards Yumi with a sneer. "You're still standing?" he asked incredulously. "You pathetic mongrels can't even pass out properly."

"You didn't answer my question," Yumi replied, her eyes glowing blue. "How long until you trade Akira in for something better, if you think you could find it?"

"When he fails me," Hama said flippantly. "If you're so obsessed with your game, why don't we play one now?" he suggested. "Let's play what Kurada and Akira played, but with playing cards."

He pulled out his deck of cards, but he smiled. _I know how to tell which cards are the picture cards_, he thought to himself. _Whatever the shuffling arrangements, I'll end up winning, and then maybe I can have two pets at once! I've never had two pets; that would be so much fun!_

He handed the deck to Yumi, and she silently shuffled the cards, then she smiled, and she handed it back to Hama. He shuffled himself, quickly sorting through them. _A king should be high enough to win this without her drawing one..._, he thought slyly. "All right," Hama said,, holding out the deck. "I'll draw first, and then you can draw.

He placed his hand on the deck, and he drew the card. He sneered as he held the card out. "The king of clubs, Kisara," he commented. "Top that."

Yumi drew her own card, and she smiled. "I can't," she replied.

Hama began to laugh, but then Yumi turned the card towards him, and he gasped in surprise to see the king of hearts card in her hand. "Fine," he said angrily. "The first round is a draw!"

"Let the king's disciples decide the battle," agreed Yumi. "Draw the next card."

Akira watched from the floor, beside a still-unconscious Kurada. _So this must be a Shadow Game, _he thought. _I've got a feeling that this is gonna escalate _fast, he thought warily.

Hama drew again. He sniggered, holding up the jack of diamonds. "Too bad, Kisara," he chuckled. "You can't beat this!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Yumi, drawing her own card. "The cards will spell out a message for you…and here it is," she said, holding up the queen of hearts.

Hama snarled, but Yumi held up her hand. "Not yet, not yet," she said. "Let's have them battle."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hama with a scowl.

Yumi held up her cards, and images appeared in the air; a king and a queen, wearing robes adorned with hearts.

"They're just illusions," she told a thoroughly freaked out Hama. "One card will represent us, the uneven ones, of course, and then the others will battle."

Hama grinned. "I won't lose to you! After all, pain is a good motivator," he commented, holding up his cards. A king and a jack appeared behind him. "Let's do this!" he snarled, swiping at his king. "If you fail, then that's the pain that will await you!" he ordered.

Yumi looked at her own king, and she simply gestured to the queen. The king nodded, and he steeled himself.

The kings charged, drawing their swords and clashing. Hama's king appeared to be the stronger, dealing brutally powerful blows, but Yumi's king blocked them all.

"Why?!" snarled Hama. "Why won't your king submit?"

Yumi stared at Hama, and he backed away as her eyes bored into him. "He will not submit to your king, because he has something worth fighting for, not money, or some petty sense of power."

Yumi's king strained, and he slowly pushed Hama's king back.

"No!" yelled Hama, swiping his arm through the air. "Do you need a reminder of the pain that awaits those who fail?!"

Hama's king winced, and he abruptly stopped resisting Yumi's king. Then he turned and swung his blade at Hama, and Hama screamed in shock as the sword arced towards him.

Akira saw Hama grab his throat and crumple to the ground. "Yumi!" he warned.

"It's all right," Yumi reassured him. "He's just knocked out." She threw the two cards that she'd drawn at Hama's unconscious body. "You have to treat a pet with love," she said. "Otherwise they'll never reach their full potential."

Akira sweated. "So, who's your pet?" he asked cautiously.

Yumi laughed. "Don't worry, I don't have one," she reassured him. "Come on, let's get Kurada out of here and get Mr. Lotus to deal with this sadist," Yumi said.

"You know the word "sadist" now?" asked Akira.

Yumi went red. "I read the dictionary a lot," she admitted.

Akira laughed. "You too, huh?" he asked. "I guess Eloe really is serious about getting our grades up."

"Of course she is!" Yumi replied.

**And another jackass bites the dust. **

**Buda-bom-bom-bom. Another one bites the dust. **

**Thank heaven, I was able to get quite a lot of material for this chapter done rather quickly. I enjoyed characterizing Hama at the end of the chapter, the little beggar. **

**Anyways, next chapter, Yumi's intent to save gets her in a spot of bother. She's challenged to a game of Duel Monsters by one of the school's Game Masters!**

**Sanokal**


	8. The Four Masters!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6****th**** RoC**

**Duel Monsters returns! I get to flesh out Yumi's Deck some more! This is most excellent. On the other hand, it gives me a chance to interpret the original strategy of a deck with Numbers. No Number in this chapter, or this fic. Never. NEVER!**

**Coincidentally, the introduction of a certain type of monster in this fic parallels with the revelation of the mechanics of the new Pendulum Summon and Pendulum monsters, as well as a good deal of ARC-V content and some rule changes. **

**I gotta say…it's huge. It feels like it to me, anyway. **

**Oddly, the new monster category is (in an evolution of the Artefact monsters) two kinds of card in one. That's…weird. But the strangest part is that they function as the catalyst, rather than the end result. And I'm glad to see that the Extra Deck and different categories of monsters are being balanced extremely nicely, rather than having one focus on one category, something that I've been planning for this fic. We'll obviously have to receive more Pendulum monsters, of course, but that's to be expected. **

**Not to mention: You can now have two field spells at once (which has made the Seal of Orichalcos harder to get rid of. Damn), AND the first player to go CANNOT DRAW. **

**This rule will not be implemented for the rest of this arc of the fic. Pendulum Monsters will likely be introduced at some point though. **

**Anyway, let's go. **

_The Four Masters!_

Yumi, Eloe, and Akira were walking to their class when the incident occurred.

"Ah!" yelled Zone's voice in pain.

Yumi and Eloe exchanged glances as Akira took off.

"Uh-oh," Eloe muttered.

Yumi sighed in resignation. "Why can't we ever get a normal day," she wondered rhetorically.

The two girls took off after Akira, just in time to see him come crashing towards them. The girls naturally dodged, leaving Akira to slam into a wall. Zone's limp body followed him.

Eloe looked down the corridor. "Shelton!" she yelled. "What the heck are you doing?!"

Ridley Shelton rubbed his hands together. "Shokan should be obvious," he commented. "He got in the way of a powerful punch." He cracked his knuckles. "As for little Zone, he revealed some things that I wanted to keep under wraps."

Zone gasped in pain. "I didn't mean to…" he protested, putting his hand on Akira's stomach as he sat up.

"Ouch!" yelped Akira.

"Sorry!" Zone cried in shock, yanking his hand off Akira, thereby removing his support, and causing him to tumble onto Akira's stomach again.

"Oh-hoh-hoh!" moaned Akira in pain. "Right on a whip bruise!"

Zone struggled off Akira, and the short, blonde-haired student looked up at Shelton angrily as Shelton slicked back his short black hair. "What?" Shelton asked arrogantly. "What do you want?"

"I revealed the truth because what you did was wrong," Zone said firmly.

"Shut your mouth!" yelled Shelton, kicking him in the face. Hard.

Zone screamed in pain, and he crumpled to the ground with his hands over his face.

"Leave him alone!" yelled Yumi, as her eyes began to glow a bright blue.

"Yumi, no!" Eloe cried, grabbing her friend. "We need to get Zone to the sickbay!"

The glow faded, and Yumi calmed herself down. She gasped from the exertion.

"We can let Mr. Lotus take care of this scum," Eloe said with venom in her voice.

Shelton scoffed. "You can't take care of me," he snorted. "You don't have the guts, little girl."

Yumi gritted her teeth, and stepped forwards, but Eloe dragged her back.

"Sickbay now, jerk later," she urged Yumi.

And Yumi finally listened, breathing deeply, and she closed her eyes. "Okay," she replied. "Okay."

Eloe sighed in relief. "You take Zone," she suggested. "Then I can get Akira. I should be able to handle this big lug by myself."

"Aw, come on, I'm not that big," Akira protested.

Shelton snickered as he walked away, hands in his pocket like the incident had been a trivalty.

"Wasn't he the same guy that…" asked Yumi with a frown.

"Beat Akira up first when Mr. Thorne asked him to and then when he rubbed Fang the wrong way?" asked Eloe. "Oh yeah," she said as she helped Akira to his feet. "And no, I've got no idea how he gets away with it," she added, slinging Akira's arm over her shoulders. "I swear that guy's psychic ability is that he comes out of things squeaky clean."

Yumi shrugged. "Let's worry about that later," she replied, holding Zone's arm around her waist and helping him stumble along.

* * *

After an eventful journey down the hallways, Yumi and Eloe finally hauled Zone and Akira into the sickbay.

Miss Orchid was there, sitting at her desk, but she was moving oddly stiffly as she stood up to greet them. "What happened to them?" she asked emotionlessly.

With a gasp, Yumi dropped Shelton onto a sickbay bed. "Shelton beat them up in the corridor," she explained. "Whew…he's heavier than he looks."

Eloe laughed as she set Akira down more carefully. "He's got nothing on this big lug, Yumi," she replied. "Though I agree with you, this was tiring."

Miss Orchid moved over to Akira to make a closer examination. "They should be fine, she said stiffly. "Miss Kisara, could I ask you to remain behind for a while?"

"Sure, Miss Orchid" Yumi replied, bowing politely, before turning to Eloe. "I'll see you in a bit," she said.

Eloe shrugged. "All right," she replied. "I'll wait outside the class for you."

"See ya," Yumi said, waving.

Eloe laughed, and she shook her head. "Yumi, it's just until the next class," she reminded her friend as she walked out of the sickbay. The door abruptly slammed behind her.

Yumi turned back to Miss Orchid, a little spooked by the abrupt slamming of the door. "So, what did you want to talk about, Miss Orchid?" she asked.

Miss Orchid smiled, and she held out her arm, with a duel disk attached to it. "I want to duel you in a game of Duel Monsters," she said. "Or rather, my master wants to duel you."

Yumi backed away, and she tried to open the door, but it was sealed tight. "What?" she asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Punishment, Kisara," said Miss Orchid. "You interfered with the master's dealings, and thus you must be punished," she explained.

Yumi was nervous. _Good thing I've got my cards with me_, she thought, digging her cards out of her pocket. _But I can't play a Shadow Game against Miss Orchid!_

She slid her duel disk onto her arm and attached the Duel Pad, her Deck shuffling and then she drew five cards. "Okay, let's go," she said.

* * *

Eloe checked the time. "Hurry up, Yumi…" she muttered. She sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. _Jeez_, she thought. _What's taking her so long? _

* * *

"Take his monster out, Lustrous Glider!" called Yumi. "Burst Stream!"

The white-scaled dragon breathed a stream of lightning at Miss Orchid's monster, a blue and gold goat horned woman.

Miss Orchid simply watched as her Life Points decreased to 1700.

"I place a card face-down and end my turn," Yumi said. "Since it's the end of my turn, the attack points of Lustrous Glider return to normal."

Her Glider's attack points fell from 3000 to 2500.

"My turn," Miss Orchid said as she drew a card with stiff fingers. "I play the Polymerization spell card from my hand," she explained. "I fuse the Gimmick Puppet Nightmare in my hand with the Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll in my hand, to fusion summon Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty," Miss Orchid intoned.

Another blue and gold goat horned woman appeared in front of Miss Orchid. (2700/2300)

"I'm sure you've realised by now that when Deceitful Beauty is summoned by fusion, she inflicts damage equal to the Levels of her fusion material monsters multiplied by 100," explained Miss Orchid dully. "For your information, that's a total of sixteen-hundred points of damage."

Yumi gritted her teeth. "No…" she muttered. "I took too long to get rid of those things!"

"Apparently so," Miss Orchid replied impassively.

Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty raised its arms and fired a blast of red strings at Yumi, striking her in the chest and knocking her backwards, reducing her life points to zero.

"Now I'll take my prize," Miss Orchid said. "Your Lustrous Glider card!"

Yumi resisted, but Miss Orchid slapped her hard across the face, stunning her. It didn't even feel as if her hands were human.

Miss Orchid picked up Yumi's Lustrous Glider card. "This card should belong to the strong," she said. "Like me, as your friends found out earlier."

"My…friends?" asked a dazed Yumi.

"I've said too much," gasped Miss Orchid theatrically. "Oh no, whatever will I do?"

She walked out of the door, as Yumi tried to furiously order the nurse to get back here, but the toll of the duel and the impact from the slap caused her to pass out.

* * *

Yumi woke to find herself in one of the beds in the infirmary, with Akira sitting beside her.

She sat up with a wince. "Ouch…what happened?" she asked.

Akira immediately shook himself awake. "Oh, Yumi!" he said. "You're up! Oh, thank goodness!"

"I'm all right, Akira," she replied. "Well…mostly…" she admitted. "Miss Orchid took my Lustrous Glider card."

Akira's face took on a look of confusion. "Huh?" he asked. "No she didn't, did she?" he mused. "I mean, she got you to bed and everything, why would she have…" He tailed off thoughtfully. "Well, I don't think it was her."

Yumi didn't reply for a while, she just sat in bed with her arms around her knees. "I've lost my best card then…" she said sadly.

Akira frowned sadly. _I gotta think of a way to cheer her up…"_ he thought. Then he got an idea. "Hey, do you want to come down to the card store later?" he asked. "I'm sure we can find something to help your deck out!"

"I built most of my deck around Lustrous Glider, though," Yumi pointed out.

"With draw support," Akira pointed out. "It's not like it's the most situational type of support," he commented.

Yumi realised that Akira was trying to make her feel better. "Okay," she said. "Let me get dressed and I'll meet you there."

Akira grinned. "Sweet!" he cheered. "See ya there!" The easily excitable boy rushed out of the sickbay, leaving the creaking door behind her.

Miss Orchid came back into the room from her quarters. "If that boy doesn't calm down…" she muttered. She looked at Yumi, seeing that she was awake. "Ah, how are you doing, Miss Kisara?" she asked.

"I'd be a lot better if I had my Lustrous Glider card back," Yumi replied evenly.

"What happened?" asked Miss Orchid.

Yumi was about to respond snappishly, but then she noticed the sincerity in the nurses voice. "Someone beat me in a duel and took it," she explained. "That's how I ended up here."

"Well, I certainly haven't seen anyone around," Miss Orchid replied with a frown. "I'm sorry to say I don't know anything about your card."

"It's okay," replied Yumi. "I'm sure I can find who took it." She yawned, and she slipped into her boots. "I need to meet Akira at the card store." Then she remembered why they had been at the sickbay in the first place. "Oh, how's Mr. Zone doing?" she asked.

Miss Orchid's face lost its smile. "Whoever beat him up is very lucky they aren't getting expelled," she said angrily. "I've fixed most of the serious injuries, but he's staying here overnight."

"Can I see him?" asked Yumi timidly.

Miss Orchid. "Of course," she replied. "He's behind the curtain," Miss Orchid added, gesturing towards him. "Don't worry, he's decent," she said with a smile, and Yumi promptly went bright red.

"Right," she said awkwardly. She shyly walked up to the curtain and she knocked on the rails.

"Uh…come in?" asked Zone.

Miss Orchid smiled. "I told you he was decent," she pointed out.

"Well…to your knowledge, Miss," Yumi replied hesitantly, before she opened the curtains.

Zone was lying in the bed, wincing.

"How are you?" asked Yumi.

Zone went bright red. "F-fine," he replied shyly.

Yumi raised an eyebrow. "You got kicked in the face," she pointed out. "And you say you're fine?"

Zone's blush deepened, as per the norm. "Miss Orchid worked a wonder with the healing," he replied, tapping his nose. "All back to normal now," he said sheepishly.

Yumi smiled. "Right," she said. "Okay, well, I'll come visit you again later, okay?" she said.

Zone nodded eagerly. "Sounds good Miss Kisara!" he said, before shrinking back into the blankets. "And…I overheard your conversation with Miss Orchid," he admitted. "She was telling the truth."

Yumi's heart jumped. "She was?" she whispered.

"I'm sure of it," said Zone.

Yumi didn't doubt Zone, especially after his truth-discerning abilities had exposed the Shadow Games to her friends. "She mentioned you guys earlier…" she mused. "Whoever it was that took my card, anyway."

Zone shrugged. "I don't know, I guess Shelton could have put whoever it was up to it," he suggested timidly.

"Maybe I'll see him at the card store…" mused Yumi. "He's usually there…"

"Don't Shadow Game him," Zone said quickly.

"I'm not going to," Yumi said angrily. "He's not worth the effort."

* * *

Yumi sidled through the crowds to the back of the store, where the duel field was. The tables had all been pushed aside, but what caught her eye was the Lustrous Glider card that was lying on the table.

Gasping in pleased surprise, Yumi hurried forwards, but a slim, tanned hand snatched the card up before she could get to it.

Fang was standing in the corner, examining Yumi's card. "Isn't this the card you used against my Bolt-Eyes Steel Dragon?" she asked thoughtfully. "Ah, yes…I remember that effect well, bringing about your downfall like that."

"Hey Fang, d'you see where I put that Lustrous Glider card?" asked Shelton as he came back into the duel field. When he saw Fang holding the card and Yumi standing there, he put two and two together.

As had Yumi when she heard Shelton mention her Lustrous Glider. She whirled around to face Shelton furiously. "_You_ took my card?!" she asked incredulously. "Why on earth didn't I see _that_ coming?" she wondered out loud, before shaking her head. "Never mind, doesn't matter," she looked at Fang, and spoke firmly. "Give me back my card, please, and I'll be on my way."

Fang threw Shelton a dirty look. "As much as I wouldn't put it past Shelton, even if he is one of my Game Masters, I don't have any sure-fire way to check if that's the case," she said. "What's your story?" she asked Yumi.

"He somehow had Nurse Orchid defeat me in a duel with some monsters called Gimmick Puppets," Yumi explained.

Fang frowned. "Gimmick Puppets are Shelton's deck all right, but I'm a bit sceptical about the whole Miss Orchid thing."

"Fang, what the heck?!" snarled Shelton.

"If you've tarnished your reputation as a Game Master by stealing her card, I'm not going to be happy, Shelton," Fang warned him. Shelton flinched, and shrank backwards. Fang looked back at Yumi. "As far as I can tell, the only unfair thing about this was Shelton's imposing of an ante without having you to agree with it."

Shelton opened his mouth to protest, but Fang shot him a look that stopped him in his tracks. "You took this card through a duel with her, or you ended up with it somehow. I don't care." A gleam came to Fang's eyes. "But…" she murmured. "Since you're both here, why not have a duel to decide who gets it?"

Both Yumi and Shelton exploded.

"It's _my_ card in the first place, why do I have to duel for it?" asked Yumi angrily.

"Fang, come on!" snapped Shelton.

"Ryu, shut them up," Fang ordered.

The brown haired student that had attacked Yumi under Mr. Thorne's orders stepped forwards, and raised both hands. An invisible force gripped both Yumi and Shelton, lifting the duo into the air and placing them on opposite ends of the duel field.

"You seem to have missed the part where I gave you a choice," Fang said dangerously. "Shelton, try not to make it a Psychic Duel, will you?" she asked. She looked over at Yumi. "And as much as I'd love to see you try, I don't want any of your hocus –pocus Shadow Games either, especially after what you've claimed that Shelton did," she warned Yumi.

Ryu rubbed his hands together behind Fang.

Yumi didn't see any other way out without breaking her promise to not use a Shadow Game against Shelton, so she nodded, and she slipped on her duel disk, as she looked over at Fang, who was still holding the Lustrous Glider card. _Wait for me_, she thought as she attached her Duel Pad to her duel disk. Her eyes glowed bright blue.

Green digits began to rise around them as a female voice intoned: "Authentic Reality Vision Link established."

Shelton had donned a standard Duel Gazer and duel disk, and he drew his hand of five cards. "Let's duel," he said. "I'll give you the first attack," he added, drawing his sixth card. He smirked, and he placed a card on his duel disk. "I summon Gimmick Puppet Egg Head!" he called. An orange puppet shaped like an egg appeared, with blonde hair. (1600/1200)

_I didn't see this one when I faced Miss Orchid…_, thought Yumi.

Shelton smiled nastily. "This egg has a special ability that allows me to discard a card from my hand, inflicting eight-hundred points of damage to your life points!" He slid a card into his graveyard slot with a laugh. "Show her what I mean, Egg Head!" he yelled.

Egg Head's eyes became tunnels, and it fired streams of purple energy at Yumi, reducing her life points to 3200. Even though she knew it was only AR, she still flinched as the energy came towards her.

With a snide grin, Shelton selected a card from his hand. "Next I play the Polymerization spell card from my hand!" he called.

Yumi flashed back to an afternoon she'd spend with Eloe after Eldest had given her the purple-bordered card.

_"How do you summon a fusion monster?" asked Yumi as she lay on her back. _

_"Normally you use the Polymerization spell card," explained Eloe. "It fuses monsters from the hand or the field together, but there's lots of other methods for different deck types to summon these monsters." _

_"So what's the advantage?" asked Yumi. "Over summoning something like Lustrous Glider, I mean," she explained._

_"Mainly that if your hand is right, it's much faster," Eloe explained. "Fusion monsters are also more readily able to reach high and powerful attack values than monster in your main deck," she added. "The one that you've got is a prime example of that." _

_Yumi looked at the card and she nodded. _

She flashed back to the duel just in time to hear Shelton call, "I fuse the Gimmick Puppet Egg Head with the Gimmick Puppet Nightmare in my hand, to create my Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty!"

A crimson tangle of legs appeared, and swirled together with the orange egg. Then the blue and gold puppet burst out of the ground, goat horned and in the shape of a woman. (2700/2300)

"Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty's effect activates!" called Shelton. "When it's fusion summoned, I can inflict damage equal to the levels of the fusion material monsters multiplied by one-hundred!"

"I know…" muttered Yumi as Deceitful Beauty blasted red strings out of its hands. They slammed into Yumi, reducing her life points to 2000.

_He's had one turn and I've already lost half my life points!_, thought Yumi in shock.

"I play one card face-down," said Shelton, sliding a card into his duel disk. "That ends my turn."

"My turn!" called Yumi, drawing her sixth card. "I draw!"

Shelton's eyes narrowed. _She's a lot more focused this time around_, he commented to himself.

"I summon my Knight of Twin Swords!" called Yumi, placing the card on her duel disk. The purple-armoured knight appeared, brandishing his twin blades. (1400/1400)

"I activate the effect of Knight of Twin Swords!" called Yumi. "I reveal the top card of my deck, and apply the appropriate effect depending on which type of card I reveal!" She slid the top card of her deck off, and she held it up – a trap card. A screen appeared, showing Shelton Yumi's Defense Draw trap card. Yumi smiled. "Since I revealed a trap card, I can set it face-down on the field," she explained, slotting it into her disk. Yellow squares formed the card image.

Yumi selected another card in her hand. "Now, since I have a level four warrior monster on my field, I can summon Monk of Eight from my hand in defense position!" she called. The grey coated brawler appeared, and took up a defensive pose, protecting his head with his arms. (1800/1800)

"I play a face-down card to end my turn," Yumi said, slotting another card into her disk.

Shelton grinned. "This'll be easy," he commented. "My turn to draw!" he called, drawing his card. He grinned. _Perfect_, he thought as he looked at the spell card. "I activate the Overload Fusion spell card!" called Shelton. "This card allows me to banish fusion material monsters from my graveyard in order to create a dark-attribute machine-type monster!" he explained. He slotted it into his disk, and a purple graveyard portal appeared. Visible in it were the red tangles of Nightmare and an open coffin containing a female puppet.

"I fuse Gimmick Puppets Nightmare and Dreary Doll!" called Shelton. "I fusion summon my second Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty!"

Another goat horned woman appeared from the graveyard portal as the two fusion materials swirled together, and it landed in a crouch beside the first.

"I'm sure you know what comes next!" Shelton commented. "Since my fused Puppets had a total of sixteen levels, you take sixteen-hundred points of damage!"

The second Deceitful Beauty blasted a cluster of red strings at Yumi. Shelton grinned. _Go on. Activate your trap card to counter my damage! I'll just slam you with the battle damage!_

"I activate a spell card!" called Yumi. "Spell of Pain transfers the damage from me to you!"

The strings twisted away from Yumi, slamming into Shelton and reducing him to 2400 life points. Shelton snarled angrily. "You little – "

"Manners, Shelton," Fang warned.

Shelton swore under his breath. "I can't attack with Deceitful Beauty the turn I use its effect," he admitted. "But there's nothing stopping me from attacking with my first one!" The puppet charged, and delivered a slicing blow with the edge of its hand, cutting down Knight of Twin Swords.

"I play my Defense Draw trap card!" called Yumi, touching the screen of her Duel Pad. "I reduce the damage to zero to draw a card!" A shield appeared around her, and she drew her card.

Shelton grinned. "You're running low on defense, Kisara," he commented. "My turn's over!"

Yumi drew her next card. "My turn. I draw," she said. "I summon Queen's Knight in defense mode," she said, placing the card on her disk. The red-armoured female knight appeared, shielding herself. (1500/1600)

"I also play a card face-down and end my turn," added Yumi.

"Fine by me," retorted Shelton, drawing his next card. "Seeing as it's my turn again." He added the card to his hand. "I'll attack your little Monk with my first Deceitful Beauty!" he called. The puppet dived forwards and chopped the Monk in two.

"Beauty number two, attack her Queen's Knight!" continued Shelton with a nasty smile on his face.

The second puppet charged, and Yumi reacted. "I play my Card Defense trap card!" she called. "I discard one card," she explained, "…then your attack is negated!" A barrier of cards appeared around her and deflected the attack. "Then I draw a card," Yumi finished, drawing. She looked at the card and her eyes lit up. _Reinforcement of the Army!_, she thought. _That's a good draw. _

"Take your turn, Kisara," Shelton said irritably.

Yumi drew her card. _Even better!_, she thought happily. She slotted a card into her duel disk. "I activate the spell card Reinforcements of the Army!" she called.

Shelton's lip curled. "A searcher card," he muttered. "So you get to add a level four or lower warrior monster from your deck to your hand, do you?" he asked. "Too bad they can't take out my Deceitful Beauties."

"I add my King's Knight from my deck to my hand," Yumi replied evenly.

"Wait, King's Knight?" asked Shelton in surprise.

"Now I'll summon him!" Yumi called, placing the card into her duel disk. A blonde, bearded warrior in orange armour appeared. (1600/1400) "With the Queen on my field when I summon the King, I call out the Jack's Knight!" she called.

Another blonde warrior appeared, this time in blue armour, younger than the King's Knight. (1900/1000)

"King, Queen, and Jack," commented Fang. "The three face card swordsmen made famous by the King of Games."

"Next I'll play a card that you should recognize, Shelton!" Yumi called. "My own Polymerization!"

"_You_ have a Polymerization card?" asked Shelton in surprise.

"I fuse the three Knights together!" called Yumi as the Knights swirled into one. "I fusion summon the imperial knight, the Arcana Knight Joker!"

A knight with black hair and dark armour formed, with a long sword and a stabbing shield. (3800/2500)

"Not bad," Fang commented. "Not bad at all."

"Whose side are you on, Fang?" asked Shelton angrily.

Fang sighed, and she gestured to Ryu. The long haired student raised his hand, and Shelton gasped, nearly dropping his cards as he felt himself choking.

"You didn't drop your cards," Fang observed. "Good, good, it appears you still have the heart of a duelist."

"Please…put me down…" gasped Shelton.

"Let him down, Ryu," Fang said.

Ryu reluctantly lowered Shelton to the ground.

"Sorry for the interruption," Fang remarked casually, turning to Yumi. "Now where were you?"

"Arcana Knight Joker, attack and destroy his Deceitful Beauty!" called Yumi.

The mighty knight dived forwards, and cut one of the puppets in two with ease.

Shelton cursed as his life points decreased to 1300. _Shoot! Another hit from that thing and I'm screwed!_, he thought. _I've got to get rid of that monster!_

"I play one card face-down and end my turn," said Yumi.

_She's playing face-down cards like there's no tomorrow,_ thought Shelton irritably. He drew his next card, and he burst out laughing. "You're through, Kisara!" he called. He activated the card in his disk. "I activate my face-down Tribute to the Doomed!" he called. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy one of your monsters!"

He laughed as he sent the a monster to the graveyard.

"Arcana Knight Joker's effect!" called Yumi. "I discard a spell card to stop your own!" She discarded her Card of Adversity, and Arcana Knight Joker absorbed the energy of the spell card, blasting it at Shelton's.

Shelton laughed. "Not to worry," he commented. "I play the Shrink spell card in response to your Knight Joker!" He grinned, and Yumi gasped as her monster's strength decreased to 1900 attack points.

"I'm not finished," Shelton added. "I also play another Overload Fusion!" He grinned as the graveyard portal opened, and the Magnet Doll, a grey puppet, swirled together with the Deceitful Beauty. "I bring out the final Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty!" called Shelton. The third goat horned woman rose to the field.

"Take another sixteen-hundred points of damage!" Shelton snarled.

Yumi covered her eyes as the puppet blasted more strings at her, reducing her to 400 life points.

"You're wide open!" yelled Shelton. "End this, Deceitful Beauty!" he yelled. The puppet charged, hand extended.

"I play a counter trap!" Yumi called. "Negate Attack!"

Shelton cursed as a trio of tornados absorbed the force of the blow. "Why!" he snarled. Why won't you just lie down and lose already?!"

"It's my turn," Yumi replied, drawing as Arcana Knight Joker's attack points returned to normal.

"Not that you can do much," replied Shelton. "I can keep you at bay for as long as I need to."

"It ends on this turn," Yumi replied. _I hope I remember this rightly…_, she thought nervously. "I activate the effect of the Sice Reaper in my graveyard!" she called. "She gives a warrior monster on my field an eight-hundred attack point boost!"

Shelton's face fell. _She got past my army of dolls…_, he thought in horror as the spectral image of a white haired, black-armoured woman appeared beside Arcana Knight Joker.

"Attack!" called Yumi. "Destroy his puppet!"

The spectral image of Sice Reaper charged, scythe raised, alongside Arcana Knight Joker, and they dealt a powerful blow that shattered one of the puppets into gold dust.

Shelton yelled out as his life points decreased to zero.

A portrait of Yumi appeared with the words "WIN," and then the AR burst apart, the digits scrolling down.

Fang looked at Shelton with disdain. "Bested by a newcomer to the game. You've hit a new low, Shelton," she commented.

Shelton didn't respond, he was in a state of shock.

"Get him out of here," snapped Fang to Ryu.

Ryu grinned, and he nodded, raising his hands and elevating Shelton's body with his psychic powers. He gestured, and Shelton flicked through the air as he walked after him and out of the shop.

Yumi watched him go, and Fang walked up to her with a card. "I believe that this belongs to you," she said, handing Yumi her Lustrous Glider.

Yumi looked at the card lovingly.

"Hey, Yumi!" called Akira's voice. "What happened?!"

He screeched to a halt by the entrance to the duel field and blanched as soon as he saw Fang.

"Relax, you ingrate, I'm not going to bite your head off," snapped Fang. She brushed past Akira casually. "Honestly, I swear all one would need to do to have you shut up in class is have me talk to you."

Akira didn't respond, and Fang left with a sound of disgust.

"You okay, Akira?" asked Yumi.

"Are you?" replied Akira.

Yumi nodded and smiled, holding up her card. "Maybe Fang isn't so bad after all," she suggested.

Fang overheard her as she was leaving and she smirked. _Oh, you have no idea, Miss Kisara_, she thought.

* * *

Shelton sat in his dormitory with his head bowed in shame. Lightning flashed, and the brief flash of light lit the face of a life-size doll, identical to Miss Orchid.

Shelton gestured, and the doll moved, standing up stiffly.

"You know what to do," Shelton said to the doll.

The doll leaned forwards and embraced Shelton, and he replied in kind, sharing the only comfort his mind could offer.

**Original cards created for this fic.**

**Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty  
DARK  
Level 8  
ATK: 2700  
DEF: 2300  
Machine/Fusion/Effect  
2 "Gimmick Puppet" monsters  
When this card is Fusion Summoned: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to 100 times the total Levels of this card's Fusion Material Monsters on the field (if they were removed from the field). This card cannot attack during the turn you activate this effect. You can only activate the effect of "Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty" once per turn.  
****_Note: This card first appeared as my interpretation of the unnamed monster behind Card Professor Cedar Mill in an omake from Yu-Gi-Oh! R Volume 4, with a slightly different effect. _**

**Knight of Twin Swords  
EARTH  
Level 4  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1400  
Warrior/Effect  
Once per turn: You can reveal the top card of your Deck, then apply the following effects.  
●Monster: If that monster is Level 4 or lower; Special Summon it, otherwise; banish it.  
●Spell: Send that Spell card to the Graveyard; this card can attack twice during each Battle Phase this turn.****_  
_****●Trap: Set the revealed card. ****_  
Note: This card first appeared during chapter 3, but its full effect was unrevealed. _**

**Monk of Eight  
EARTH  
Level 4  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 1800  
Warrior/Effect  
If you control a Level 4 Warrior-Type monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand) in face-up Defense Position.  
****_Note: This card first appeared during chapter 3, but its effect was unrevealed._**

**Sice Reaper  
Level 4  
DARK  
ATK: 1000  
DEF: 1500  
Warrior/Effect  
During your Standby Phase: This card gains 400 ATK. You can banish this card from your Graveyard and target 1 face-up Warrior-Type monster you control; that target gains 800 ATK until the End Phase. You can only use this effect of "Sice Reaper" once per turn.  
****_Note: This card first appeared during chapter 4, but its full effect was unrevealed. _**

**What did I just write at the end there?! **

**Sorry for the late post, the carpet was getting replaced, and it was an absolute nightmare. **

**Next chapter: Robberies begin to occur in the town, and the perpetrators are teenagers with psychic abilities. The eyes of the public are soon focused on Duel Academy Sanctuary…**

**Sanokal. **


	9. Ultimate Technique

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 6****th**** RoC**

**After that last chapter, our protagonists deal with a much more everyday issue. **

**Unfortunately, university is starting. I'll have to get both this chapter and the next out on time, and then I'll take a week's break while I sort myself out. I'll likely do this every five chapters, to give myself a rest. **

**Another issue is that I have to spend less time on this…the family don't like it. **

_Ultimate Technique_

The man ran through the alleyway, swearing under his breath.

He didn't get far though, and invisible force shoved him in the back, and he went sprawling with a yelp. Five people stood over him with nasty grins on their faces.

The man backed away as fast as he could, but another impact knocked him into the wall and he gasped in pain as the elbow of his suit tore and he felt his arm go numb.

* * *

"Okay," Akira said, concentrating. "Here I go!" He held out his palms and concentrated as hard as he could. The plate in front of him – piled with food, began to shudder and rise. It was only a few centimetres, but it was still impressive.

"Don't let that fall all over you," Eloe commented as she read the news on her Duel Pad.

"What?" asked Akira, as he lost his concentration. His plate crashed back to the table, and Akira quickly grabbed it to keep it steady and prevent his breakfast from going everywhere.

Yumi tried not to giggle as Eloe sighed.

Akira went bright red. "Hey, that could happen to anyone," he protested.

"Like this poor guy in the news," commented Eloe with a wince. She held up her Duel Pad, and Yumi and Akira crowded around to look.

"The guy says he was attacked by people with psychic powers…" Yumi muttered. "Wait…that's in the district by the Academy!" she gasped.

Akira frowned. "So, some kids from our school have been attacking other people, is that what this says?" he asked. He stood up and smacked his palms together. "That's just wrong!" he yelled. "I'll teach them not to misuse psychic powers with my own!"

Yumi and Eloe both sweatdropped. "Right…" Eloe commented.

* * *

Yumi waited on her bed later that night_. I hope that Akira's okay if he's actually fighting the gang_, she thought. Then she sat up angrily and smacked herself. _Why didn't I go with him?_, she thought furiously. _Because it's past curfew and you don't want to break any rules_, pointed out a voice of reason in her head. _Shut up, voice_, thought Yumi irritably.

* * *

The next day, Akira was missing from their first class. When their maths teacher, Professor Asphalt, found out about it, he wasn't happy.

"That young fool is far enough behind as it is, and now he's skipping class?!" fumed Asphalt. He was one of the few teachers at the school who wasn't a psychic – instead, he was simply extremely intelligent when it came to mathematics, or problem solving in general.

Yumi wasn't paying attention; instead she wondered what had happened with the gang yesterday. She was so worked up about that she...

"...didn't pay any attention to anything today!" Eloe said. She waved her hand in front of Yumi's face. "Hey! Wake up, Yumi!" she called.

"Sorry," Yumi replied. "Eloe...can we go and see if Akira's in his room?" she asked.

To her surprise, Eloe immediately nodded. "Sure!" she replied. "Something isn't right, it really isn't like Akira to blow off class like that," mused Eloe. She shrugged and grinned, before adding, "Even if it is maths."

The school were a bit more trustworthy about the girls going near the boys' dorms, but even so, Yumi and Eloe wouldn't be able to go there.

Fortunately, Zone had gotten out of the hospital that afternoon and he agreed to go and look for Akira with them – or as he correctly put it, _for_ them.

"Look, it's not like we can do it or anything," Eloe reminded Zone.

"Why are you trying to convince me?" asked Zone. "I've said I'll do it," he pointed out. "Plus, you're telling the truth."

"He has a point," Yumi added.

"I just thought you looked like you were going to back out of it, that's all," Eloe explained.

Zone shook his head fiercely. "Never, Miss Kunari!" he said with conviction.

Eloe raised her hands in mock fear. "Okay, okay!" she said, sweatdropping. "Just...go see if he's in his room!"

Zone nodded, and he walked down the hallways until he found Akira's room. First, he knocked on the door. There was no response. "Akira! You in there?" asked Zone. Again, there was no response. Silence couldn't lie.

So he tried the door, and to his surprise, it opened easily.

Zone peeked inside Akira's room cautiously. He didn't see anyone in there, so he quickly zipped inside and closed the door.

A quick look around the room, despite the horrendous mess inside, confirmed that Akira definitely wasn't here. He checked the shower and bathroom (knocking before looking), but Akira wasn't (somewhat thankfully, he reflected) in there either.

He grabbed Akira's keycard from the floor and he slipped out, locking the door behind him.

"What's ion there?" asked Yumi when he'd come back.

"Aside from a colossal mess, nothing," replied Zone. "I looked all over the place."

Yumi clenched her fists. "Where is he?" she wondered.

"It's Friday," Eloe pointed out. "We can go looking for him in the weekend."

* * *

They signed out of the Academy the next day, and took a bus into the town (they could have walked, Yumi reflected, but Eloe had decided that it would be better to find Akira quickly).

The first hour of searching yielded no results.

"Maybe we should split up?" asked Zone, who'd tagged along with the girls, a beanie hiding his hair.

"I don't want any of us to get ambushed by that gang," Eloe replied. She looked down an alleyway, and stiffened. "There," she whispered, ducking back behind the corner.

Six scruffy-looking teens were standing there, including one boy in a dark jacket and a purple shirt, with black and white hair. They were all concentrating, levitating a man in the air and removing yen from his person.

"Akira?" whispered Yumi. "What's he doing with them?"

"From the looks of things, he's stealing someone's money," replied Eloe.

Zone peeked around the corner. "What's he doing with Hirota?" he asked in surprise.

"Hirota?" asked Yumi. "Who's that?"

Zone winced. "He's a guy Akira hung out with in middle school," he explained, pointing at a tall, thick-armed blonde boy. "He was a bit of a thug, so Akira ditched him after it took him ages to find everything out."

"He's not psychic?" asked Eloe.

"I don't know," replied Zone. "He never seemed to need it if he was, though."

Hirota was laughing. "Nice one, Akira" he commented. "Man, you should have come to my school instead of getting boxed in with the freaks!"

Yumi had already had enough. "Akira!" she called. "What are you doing with this lot?!"

Akira flinched as he heard Yumi's voice.

Hirota laughed. "Ah, kid, didn't you get the memo?" he asked. "I assume you know Akira, so you should also know that he and I are partners now!"

Yumi was about to reply when one of the gang members – a skinny girl with dark hair and tatty clothes – walked up and slapped her hard across the face, knocking Yumi backwards.

Yumi gasped, and she growled angrily.

"Stop her!" Hirota yelled. All the gang members raised their hands, and Yumi felt herself being suspended in the air. Before she could respond, they threw her into the wall, hard, and she slumped to the ground, barely conscious.

"Yumi!" cried Zone in surprise.

Eloe turned to Akira furiously. "What the heck, Akira?!" she yelled. "We've been worried sick and you're hanging out with these idiots!" She waved dismissively at the gang members.

"You want to end up like that girl on the ground?" asked Hirota smoothly, cracking his knuckles.

"Akira..." groaned Yumi from the ground. "Please come back..."

Whether he heard her or not, Akira didn't reply. "Let's get out of here," he said emotionlessly. "This is a waste of time." Without even a glance at Yumi, he walked away. The gang members followed him – or more accurately, they followed Hirota.

Zone and Eloe got Yumi out of there as fast as they could. To their surprise, as they ate lunch in a nearby park, Yumi woke up quickly.

"Where is he?" she asked.

Eloe sighed. "He got them to leave," she explained. "And then he left with them."

"She's telling the truth," Zone chimed in helpfully.

Yumi sighed, remembering Akira's cheerful face the day they'd became friends. _He always said that he'd make friends with everyone in the school_, she thought glumly. _So why's he acting out like this, helping a gang that only makes enemies?! _

Eloe sighed. "I don't know if we can get through to Akira," she admitted. "Not without help."

"No!" Yumi protested. "If we give up now, then we've failed Akira already!"

* * *

"Nice one, Shokan!" commented another gang member. "Hard to believe that you struggled to lift a plate a couple of days ago, seeing how much you added to our power!"

"Yeah!" commented the girl that had slapped Yumi. She snickered loudly. "Once we get more people in the group, we might be able to expand big time!"

"I don't think so," Hirota interrupted. "That would be a huge mistake."

"What?!" protested the girl angrily. "What do you mean by that?!"

Hirota smiled. "I mean that becoming too well-known is dangerous. After all, its how Akira found us in the first place," he pointed out. "Sure, it paid off, but we need to limit ourselves for the time being."

"Hirota!" yelled a voice.

Hirota sighed; he knew the voice. "The heck do you want this time?" he asked the speaker, a weedy-looking boy with straggly hair and unshaven cheeks.

"You know freakin' well what I want!" yelled the other boy. "I want you and your band of freaks to get off our turf!"

"I'm afraid that that's out of the question," replied Hirota. "You'll have to fight for it, and you're alone."

"No he isn't," warned another of Hirota's cronies. "They're hiding around us." He spread his arms theatrically. "Like so…" He raised his arms. "Little help here, everyone?" he commented.

The other gang members grinned, with the exception of Akira, though he still helped them out. They elevated the opposing gang out of their hiding places.

"You son of a gun!" shrieked the other gang leader. He charged Hirota, and Hirota, caught off-guard in his moment of triumph, was thrown on his back by a punch. The other guy was thin, but his punches hurt. He raised his fist again, but Akira intercepted the punch with his hand, concentrating to reduce the pain.

Yumi watched from the corner, interested. _They're combining their power!_, she thought. _Wow…_

"This is all pointless garbage," muttered Akira sadly. He gritted his teeth, and he pushed backwards, throwing the gang leader backwards.

"He's gotten better," Eloe whispered. "But I don't think that we need to talk to him just yet."

Hirota heard them. "Who's that?!" he yelled, running round the corner.

He didn't see anyone though; Yumi and Eloe had blanched and fled back to the park where Zone was waiting as soon as they'd figured out they'd been busted.

* * *

"Okay, so now what?" asked Yumi, catching her breath.

"I still can't believe what happened," Zone said in shock. "So…what are we going to do now?" he asked. "Well…are we going to do anything now?" he admitted.

Eloe pulled out her Duel Pad. "I was thinking that we should go and check the place that got robbed last, and see if we could check whether Akira was with them then," she suggested.

Yumi nodded. "Good idea," she said timidly.

Eloe noted the sudden flip-flop of Yumi's personality and filed it away for later. _She does that a lot…_, she thought.

The last store to be attacked was a small dairy, a cheap-looking place manned by a tired man in a plaid shirt.

"Are you all right?" Yumi asked.

"Considering I was robbed last night?" asked the storekeeper sarcastically. "Fine, just fine."

Eloe frowned. _Great. No wonder this guy got robbed_, she thought. "Look, we won't take up too much of your time, we just have a couple of questions," she explained. "Did you see a guy with white and black hair with the gang last night?"

The shopkeeper scoffed. "Oh, him," he muttered. "He was the only one that didn't want to be there out of them."

Yumi jumped. "Really?!" she cried happily.

"Sounded like the poor sap got forced to help them," the shopkeeper admitted. "If you're looking for them, everyone knows they hang out in the warehouse in the abandoned site."

Zone frowned. _He's telling the truth…_, he thought. _So why does this feel bad?_

"Well, that guy was a jerk," commented Eloe after they'd left. "But at least he gave us the information that we needed."

Yumi nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I knew Akira couldn't have joined those guys like that, I just knew it!" she added with conviction.

"What would you have done if he had?" asked Zone curiously.

Yumi's face darkened. "Zone…" she said. "Please…don't ever ask me that again…"

The short blonde flinched. "Sorry!" he yelped. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"Looks like we're going to that warehouse," commented Eloe. "And hopefully, there'll be four of us leaving."

* * *

They found the gang at their warehouse, just as the shopkeeper had told them.

"You pests again?" asked Hirota angrily. "You pathetic specks just keep on coming to spoil the moment!"

Yumi ignored them, and she looked at Akira, who looked back at her impassively. "Akira, you were tricked into joining this gang," she said.

Akira hesitated before replying. "I don't think so, little Yumi," he said coldly. "I joined the gang to do what I want, without any rules, all of my own free will."

"Rubbish," Eloe said. "If you did, then why aren't you happier about it?"

Akira raised his hands, as did the other gang members, and they concentrated. Eloe felt herself being lifted into the air, and she gasped in shock. "What are you doing?" she asked angrily.

"We're celebrating," commented one gang member, the girl. "Hey, Master Hirota!" she called. "Apparently, those pipsqueaks that we crushed today were the last big street gang in the district! So there's no gang left to challenge us!"

Hirota grinned. "I wonder where we should attack next," he commented.

The gang members looked at each other, surprised that Hirota seemed to be escalating despite his earlier talk.

"Enough of this!" yelled Eloe.

All the gang members suddenly felt a prickling sensation, and they gasped in surprise, losing their concentration and dropping Eloe to the ground.

Eloe landed on her feet deftly. "I didn't want it to have to come to this, but if I have to, I'll knock you all down and drag Akira back to the Academy by his ankles!" she yelled. She pointed at Hirota angrily. "I'm taking you down, Hirota!"

"Hah-hah-hah!" laughed Hirota. "Bring it on!"

Hirota raised a metal bar, and Eloe quickly grabbed the first object at hand – which turned out to be a broom – to fight back.

Hirota swung the bar, and Eloe's broom snapped in two. _Jeez!_, she thought. _He's strong for a psychic!_

Her distraction cost her, as the girl that had slapped Yumi stepped up and kneed Eloe in the stomach. Eloe doubled up in pain as Hirota raised the bar.

"You're gonna hurt her!" yelled Yumi, dived forwards.

Zone was paralysed with fear, as Yumi tackled Hirota, knocking him to the ground.

"Get off me you crazy woman!" snapped Hirota. "Lesa!" he yelled to the girl. "Get her into the upstairs room!" He grinned savagely. "I'm gonna enjoy myself while the rest of you can deal with this lot," he said, rubbing his fists together.

* * *

Yumi gasped as Lesa bound her wrists cruelly to a pipe embedded into the wall. She tried to wrench it from the wall, but the warehouse hadn't been abandoned for _that_ long, so her efforts were useless.

Made harder was the punch that Hirota delivered to her stomach. Yumi gasped in pain, and she began to get angry, but Hirota wasn't letting up, grabbing her long white hair and wrenching it back, before slapping her across the face.

Hirota felt a tap on his shoulder as he drew back his fist to hit Yumi again. Before he could turn around, Akira grabbed him from behind, and dragged him off Yumi. Hirota's hands got hold of some of Yumi's hair, dragging it painfully from her scalp.

"Akira!" yelled Hirota. "We had an agreement!"

"Only if you left my friends alone," Akira said. "And you've gone back on your end of the deal, so it's on!"

Yumi smiled as she heard the old Akira in her friend's voice.

The other gang members burst in, lunging for Akira.

Akira yelped in shock, and he ducked, causing two of the bigger and duller boys to crash into each other. One of them wasn't in any condition to start doing anything, the other got back up slowly.

Yumi swiftly kicked him in the shin as he rose, and his face went white, and he dropped to the ground.

Akira wasn't a fighter, though, and he was forced to use his powers to stop the worst of the blows. When Hirota joined the fight, enough got through that Akira was knocked to the ground.

Akira gasped in pain. _Gotta get Yumi outta here…_, he thought, concentrating on her bonds. He applied his ability to apply force _between_ the knots, loosening them before another blow broke his concentration.

Yumi's eyes glowed, and she ripped her hands free of her bonds. Hirota noticed the change and he cursed. "Get her!" he yelled as Yumi gapped it for the door. "I'll stick with this little traitor!" he yelled, drawing back his fist and hitting Akira again.

* * *

Lesa led the gang up the stairs. "Let's get her!" she yelled. "Make her pay!"

Yumi stood in the middle of the roof, a flimsy wooden surface, holding a metal pipe. She threw it away as the gang approached her. "Come and get me," she said, backing away. "It's time to play a game."

* * *

Hirota snarled as his punch was blocked by Akira's abilities.

"I should have finished this in middle school," Akira said angrily. "But I was too afraid to do it then!" He laughed good-naturedly. "Hey! No time like the present, right?!" he pointed out.

* * *

"The rules are simple: last one standing wins," commented Yumi, lightly crossing her arms.

The gang members charged, but Yumi simply ran backwards across the roof, laughing.

* * *

"Ack!" yelled Hirota as he was hit in side.

Akira gasped for breath, holding a length of brittle pipe. He jabbed at Hirota, only for the pipe to shatter against the wall after Hirota dodged.

Hirota had overbalanced, and he landed beside a collection of smashed bottles. He grinned nastily, and he carefully slid the smaller pieces into his hands as Akira looked for something else to hit him with. "Take this!" yelled Hirota, throwing a handful of glass shards at Akira's face.

Akira held up his hands to repel the glass with his powers, and instinctively closed his eyes. "Darn it!" he yelled. "I can't see!"

* * *

She'd dodged for quite a while, but now Yumi was cornered at the edge of the roof.

"We've got you now!" snapped Lesa, raising her hand.

Before she could use her powers on Yumi, the floor crumbled under her, and Lesa yelped in shock as she fell through, barely grabbing the edges of the wood. "What the heck was that?!" she snapped, trying to pull herself out.

Yumi shrugged. "I kinda put a bunch of holes in the roof. It's only wood, only meant as a placeholder, after all."

"I'll scratch your eyes out!" snapped Lesa, applying her abilities to lift her.

Unfortunately, she'd applied a bit too much pressure with her hands as well, and the edges of the holes splintered and snapped, dropping her to the floor below with a scream.

Yumi covered her mouth in shock. "Ooh!" she winced. "That looked like it hurt a _lot_."

Another boy started forwards, but he'd stepped too close to a hole. It's wasn't life or death, not black and white, just because a section of floor looked solid, didn't mean it was.

Thus, the rotten wood, broke under the boy weight, and he too fell, not thinking to use his powers to save himself.

Yumi looked over at the last guy, one of the ones that Akira had taken out before. "You really want to do this?" she asked, pointing at the weak section of floor in front of her.

The boy cursed, and he jumped, using his powers to elevate himself further.

_Uh-oh_, thought Yumi. _That's not good._

She stepped backwards – and the boy landed in front of her, hard. She took advantage of the opening to shove him backwards. It wasn't a hard shove – Yumi wasn't very physically strong – but it did the job, pushing him onto the weaker floorboards. They collapsed under his weight, but that was the final straw for the entire roof, and Yumi jumped for the edge of the wall as a cloud of dust enveloped her and she began to cough.

* * *

Akira had just dodged another blow when the ceiling fell in. Hirota was standing just at the edge of the destruction, and he yelled in pain as the wood struck him in the back.

Akira seized his chance, forcing Hirota off him, and into the debris. Hirota coughed as he entered a dust cloud, and Akira kicked him in the shin a final time, before raising his hands and repelling Hirota.

The exertion had been too much for him, and he collapsed just in time for Yumi to let go of the wall she was clinging to. She landed heavily on Akira's back, and Akira immediately woke up again.

He groaned as he realised that one of his friends was lying on his again. _Oh, you've got to be kidding me!_, he protested inwardly.

Eloe and Zone, battered and bruised by the gang, stumbled to the door of the room.

"Jeez," Eloe muttered as she saw Yumi sprawled on top of a thoroughly exhausted Akira. "Talk about a weekend."

"If that's what Mr. Akira does on the weekends all the time, no wonder he's always sleeping in class," Zone added in surprise. "Or in the hospital, one or the other," he added as an afterthought.

Eloe smiled. "Let's get out of here," she suggested. "The big lummox hasn't changed much, has he?" she commented.

* * *

Akira recovered by the next day, after devouring a fairly large meal. "Man…that's good…" he commented. "I put my past behind me, and food in my stomach!" he said cheerfully, leaning back in his chair.

Eloe sighed. "Are you gonna be even worse, now that you've figured your powers out a little more?" she asked.

"What?" asked Akira.

Eloe sighed, and she exchanged glances with Yumi. "Never mind. Let's just never do that again."

"Sure," Akira said. "By the way, have you seen Zone anywhere?" he asked. "I never thanked him properly."

Eloe shrugged. "He comes and he goes," she admitted. "I think he's friends with us now, but I don't know if he thinks that, that's the thing."

* * *

Zone was sitting in his room. He pulled out a suitcase from under his bookcase, opened it, and removed the contents, putting them on his desk.

It was an iron jar, with a wooden box tied to the top, and it was whispering to Zone.

**This isn't a cliff-hanger. It is a plot thread that won't be resolved for a while. Because I'm a jerkass, apparently. **

**I have very little to say, just my hopes that you are enjoying this fic, and that you might tell me how to or if I need to improve – so that I can cater to you all. **

**Next chapter, strife in the Academy arises when Yumi and her friends run afoul of one of the teachers…**

**Sanokal. **


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